Spaces
by JoceDaAmetuer
Summary: Claire has arrived at Mineral Town. Aside from her farming, she's trying to find a boyfriend! But who would have guessed who she'd run into? Can she fall in love with someone older? Or will age be a problem?
1. A New Life

Hello everyone! Well okay this is my first Harvest Moon Fanfiction. I just hope everyone likes it! There's much more to come and lots of twists and turn.  
And I promise to try and make this story like you've never read before!

I do NOT own Harvest Moon or the characters. Everything belongs to their respectful owners. The only thing I own is the story line and my pair of socks! :D

RRR, Read, Review, and Rate! PLEASE AND THANK YOU :D

**A/N: ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ = Flashback**.

_Ah, a new view. A new town. New faces. A new life! _Claire thought as she boarded the boat that was to take her, the new farmer, to Mineral Town. She was alone of course, because no one else was crazy enough to leave the city for the country life. Claire however, was tired of her boring life in the city. A tedious day after another in that dull t with no one else around.

She remembered what had started this all. She was living alone in her apartment with no special other and her parents had passed away. When she sat down to read the paper like everyday, she noticed an ad she had never seen. It was advertising a farm for sale. It has seemed convincing and Claire had almost tripped running to the phone and now she was here. On this boat taking in the wonderful smell of the salty sea air.

"Well Miss Claire, are you ready to get out of here?" a tall muscular man asked her.

He seemed to be the captain although he lacked any proper clothing of a real chip captain. Of course, Claire was not expecting a pirate captain either. He had tall brown hair and a huge smile.

"Please, call me Claire. And you are?" she said extending her hand to greet him.

"Zack, nice to meet you Claire. You all set?" he asked taking her tiny feminine hand into his own larger hand and shaking it firmly.

"Ready for take off! Or, set sail, or whatever." She said stumbling to find the right words and finding herself embarrassed.

"Alright let's go." And with that he started up the engine and began to drive away.

Claire looked back at the dock hoping to see someone to wave good-bye to but the dock was empty.

"Good-bye Mom and Dad. Wish me luck on my adventure, I'll make you proud." She whispered to herself. She opened the locket she had around her neck.

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (Begin Flashback**)

"This is for you sweetheart." Momma had told her handing Claire a locket for her birthday. Claire, eight years old at the time had stared at the locked and curiously she pulled a button and opened it.

"Oh no! I broke it Momma!" she had cried.

"Oh, sweetie you didn't break it." Momma had said with a laugh. "It's supposed to open. You see, there are three slots." She had pointed to a picture of herself a picture of Poppa and an empty slot. "This is so you know that you'll have us with you always. And this one," she pointed to the empty slot, "well, this one is for that special someone when you find him." She smiled.

"Just don't find him to soon you hear?" Poppa had said and everyone had laughed happily.

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (End Flashback)**

Claire looked down lovingly at the pictures of them. And then studied the empty slot wondering if it would ever get filled. She was seventeen now and she had waited, for Poppa's sake, for long enough.

So what did you think? :D  
Please Review :) There's a button right here!  
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	2. The Chicken Theif

Well, here's the second chapter. I really hope you like it! Please review. :3 More to come.  
And again, I OWN NOTHING. Except the storyline and this juice box. Yumm…  
Hope you like it!

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"We're here Claire!" Zack shouted snapping Claire out of melodramatic memories. She jumped off the boat onto the boardwalk and ran to the beach kicking off her shoes and socks and burying her feet in the warm sand.

"Mmmm. I haven't seen such a beautiful beach in ages!" she sighed. Looking around she spotted miles and miles of open se, a nice house next to the docking pier and next to it a cute little white beach house. It was colorful and festive but the sign said closed. _It must be a restaurant_, Claire thought.

"Should I show you the way to your farm?" Zack offered.

"Thank you Zack, I think I can make it there on my own. Thanks for everything!" she yelled waving back with one hand and shoes in the other. She ran into the town square and everything was marvelous. She loved how there was no one there. She ran left and found herself in front of a farm filled with adorable cows. But she couldn't stop there. She kept running, past a poultry farm. She gazed at all the cute chickens when suddenly she bumped into something and she was thrown back on her butt, shoes gone flying.

"Oww. Sorry sir I should have seen where I was going are you alright?" she looked up rubbing her head and finding herself drowning in a pool of wondrous blue eyes.

"Sir? Do I look that old?" the man, well, boy asked as he extended his hand to help her up.

"No sorry. I hadn't seen you. The name's Claire I'm the new farmer here, nice to meet you." she said taking his hand and standing up.

"Gray, you too." at that moment Claire's shoe came down, smacking gray right on his hat protected head. "Ow! Is this yours?" he said handing her the shoe.

"Oh yeah. Sorry about that, are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine. So you're the new farmer huh? You gonna take over that run down piece of sh-"

"Gray! Where are you? You're already late, stop chatting and come to work!" an old man yelled from behind a door. He had white hair and a huge beard that made him look like santa clause. He slammed the door shut which made the sign rattle loudly. It read "Saibara's Blacksmith"

"Old geezer. That's my grandfather. I better get to work before his girly-self throws a tantrum." Gray said making Claire giggle a little.

"Okay good luck." she said waving to him.

"I'll see you around?" he asked running to the store.

"Sure!" Claire yelled back smiling.

"That's some kid." Claire said to herself putting on her sock and shoe. "Now where's the other one?" she asked herself looking around. she spotted her left shoe inside the hen's fence. She didn't know whether to ask if she could go get it, or just go inside and hope no one saw her. She couldn't take the embarrassment if she asked to go inside, so she decided to just jump over quickly and hope no one would notice. As she was hopping over the fence to retrieve her shoe she petted one of the chickens and got up and turned around when,

"You like chicken's huh?" someone said right in front of her face, startling her. She was so shocked that she fell back on the ground sending the frightened chickens away in a feathery mess.

"Oh my gosh!" she gasped. She looked up to find a refined young man with brown-red hair and his hands fiercely placed on his hips. He was wearing an apron and a sweat band which made Claire giggle inside a little.

"What were you planning on stealing missy?" he said leaning down into her face.

"N-nothing!" Claire exclaimed feeling her face flush red. The nerve! Her, stealing? How could he think that? "I was picking up my shoe."

"Your face tells me otherwise. Wait a minute, I've never seen you before. Who are you?" he asked rudely pointing at her.

"Rick? What's going on?" a young girl came running out of the house. Her hair was pink and she was wearing a long flowing dress. Her face was rosy and she seemed extremely nice.

"Nothing Popuri! Go back inside with mom!" Rick yelled back annoyed. "Who is that?" she said coming closer.

"Just some crook I caught stealing our chickens."

"I did not steal anything! I was retrieving my shoe!" Claire stated she stood up.

"Oh my! Look at her she's so flustered! She can't possible be a crook! Wait, aren't you the new farmer here?" she asked now looking at Claire.

"Yeah. How'd you know?" Claire asked, now completely ignoring Rick.

"What? Hey! What about me?" Rick asked.

"Oh I'm sorry I should probably just give back the chicken I stole right?" Claire shot him a glare.

"Oh don't mind him he's just insecure about himself if you know what I mean."

Claire looked Rick up and down and teasingly added, "Oh yes, I see." And followed the girl into their house.

"What? I am not insecure! I'm just fine don't listen to her!" Rick yelled trying to defend his honor. Yet again his younger sister had managed to ruin his authority, his cool, and his dignity. All while also taking away another shot at a new friendship, all in a single swoop.

"I really should be getting to my farm." Claire pleaded but Popuri had already dragged the blonde into her house.

"Mom, this is Claire, the new farmer!" Popuri said delighted.

"Oh hello! Nice to meet you. You have such gorgeous hair color." Lillia told Claire.

"Thank you, the pleasure is mine. Oh no, I don't thank you. I love pink hair!" Claire replied back gazing at the beautiful woman. She had the quality of Claire's own mother but not as beautiful. Well, in her eyes.

"Mom do you think this one will stay?" Popuri asked.

"Stay?" Claire asked surprised.

"Popuri! Don't be rude. You know how hard the Mayor works for this! Don't mind her Claire. You just work hard and keep at it." Lillia told Claire.

"Yes I sure will. I hear it's a lovely farm."

Popuri and her mother shared a worried look. "Claire, sweetie?" Lillia stole Claire's attention away from their living room. "Have you seen the farm yet?"

"Well no but I was on my way. Is it nice?"

"Well, it should be. You just have to work a little here and there." Popuri smiled assuringly.

"Okay no problem. Well if you'll excuse me I think I'll be going now thank you." Claire excused herself and stepped out of the house. A gust of wind caught her hair and sent it flowing almost in slow motion. She closed her eyes and breathed it in.

Rick was in the chicken coral feeding the chickens when he heard the door open and he turned around. He saw Claire and her beautiful blonde hair blowing in the wind. Her cheeks were brushed with a blush of pink. Her soft pink lips up in a smile. Rick starred in awe at the beautiful new farmer. He felt his cheeks get hot when she turned to him.

"What?" Claire asked.

"Nothing." Rick replied stunned.

"Look I didn't steal anything okay?" she said as she walked closer to him. "And don't worry about what Popuri said okay?" Claire told him and then ruffled his hair and walked away.

"O-okay." He said still wide eyed and blushing.

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So what did you think? Review :D down here! Pretty Please? n_n


	3. Welcome to Mineral Town

Okay this may be my shortest chapter yet but who cares? Claire finally sees her farm and oh boy is she gonna need some help! I hope you all like this and thank you so much to Kiyohara Shi for reviewing! I really would like for more reviews. :]

Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own anything from harvest moon or their characters. They all belong to their respectful owners. The only thing I own is the storyline and my teddy bear!

Claire giggled as she walked out of the poultry farm and skipped happily to her own farm. She got there and looked around.

"What?" she yelled looking around at the barren waste land. The soil was full of weeds and stones and branches and tree stumps. The barn, chicken coop and stable were run down horribly. Doors hung loosely on their hinges and the chipping paint looked nice compared to the pale brown color the three places had established from the sun and rain. She looked at what seemed to be her house. It didn't look as bad as the rest but it wasn't great either. She turned around and found a short stout man in front of her.

"Oh!" was all Claire could say.

"Hello Claire, I'm Mayor Thomas."

"Hello Mayor Thomas!" she replied less than happy.

"So what do you think of the farm?" he asked with hope written all over his face.

"Uhm I think there's a mistake, the ad said 'ready to till soil and perfect living conditions'" she told him. "This can't possibly be my farm."

"Well it is a little run down but its still in fine living conditions."

"I can't stay here!" Claire yelled now frustrated.

"Well then if you have to go back…"

"I can't go back! I quit my job, sold my apartment and spent all my money to some here!"

"A lot of people have come here and just decided to turn around and leave. You're our only visitor in years."

"But…" Claire started to protest but looked around. All the building needed was a little tidying up and some paint here and there. "Well okay fine."

"You're staying?" the Mayor looked up. "Alright! I'll just have you sign some papers tomorrow but you can stay here now. If you absolutely can't sleep here there's an Inn just north of here."

"Okay thanks."

"No, thank you Claire, and welcome to Mineral Town!" Mayor Thomas said with a tip of his hat and scurried off.

Please Review! :D Magic button! |

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	4. A Little Magic

Okay! Let's see, so far I think this story is going good. If you've already read this story and love it so far, please! Recommend it to your friends! More reviews get more chapters! Although, I'm not going to be one of those people that say "if I don't get reviews, you don't get more chapters." Honestly, it bugs me so I'm not doing that. I just wish for your wonderful reviews, they really do help. Oh and for those of you who have some ideas, send me a message! I'd be glad to use some of your ideas in this story!

Anyways, thank you to those of you who reviewed and are planning to review! They help MUCHO! ("a lot" in Spanish) Okay, I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of these wonderfully cute characters. Everything goes to their respectful owners! All I own is the storyline and this cupcake! :D

"Well... Ugh let's get started." Claire said exhausted already.

She kneeled down and started removing the tall weeds. She was almost done when she saw someone entering her farm.

"Claire!" he yelled.

She turned around and saw Zack standing next to her shipment box.

"I'm just gonna take what you shipped and sell it in the city okay?" he said opening the box.

"Oh! Hey I didn't ship anything. Sorry!"

"Oh well it's okay. There are grasses and bamboo shoots growing outside your farm and there's a honey comb where you can get honey on that tree." he pointed to the tree behind the chicken coop.

"Okay cool!" Claire said. She heard deep breathing and growling. She turned around scared. She heard a loud bark and suddenly she was tackled from something inside the huge weeds.

"Ahhh!" Claire yelled and Zack turned around shocked and ran to her.

"Claire what's wrong?"

She got up laughing, a dog on her lap licking her face and barking happily.

"Oh my! Aha ha ha stop!" Claire giggled until she was pink.

Zack looked at her smiling. She was so cute. He suddenly felt his face get hot as he blushed from seeing her tiny little face turn red and her little pink mouth widen. Claire stood up holding the puppy in her arms.

"Oh my gosh. Wow, do you know who he belongs to?" Claire said panting.

"Uhm, he doesn't belong to anybody." Zack told her. _Oh why does she have to be panting?_ Zack thought.

"Do you think I can keep him?" Claire asked Zack. The puppy wriggled in her arms.

"Sure just name him." he said looking away.

"Hmmm how about. Mike?" Claire thought but wrinkled her nose at the thought. "I need to name it after someone." she said putting the dog down and placed a finger on her chin and a hand on her hip. "How about," she said picking the dog up an looking at the sun that was about to set. "Zack?" she suggested looking up at Zack smiling slightly.

He looked down at her. The sun made her face glow and it reflected off beautifully. Her honest and vulnerable side glance was irresistible. Her lips were a lovely pink, her eyes sparkled like an open sea. Zack couldn't help himself and he leaned down. His muscles tensed and his eyes closed slowly but before they closed completely he looked her in the eye and saw her pure soul as clearly as if he were looking through a window. He stopped himself before he did something he knew he would regret.

"It sounds wonderful." he said smiling.

Claire blushed and looked down hiding her face behind her hair.

"Thanks." she hugged the puppy and kissed it on the head. She looked up at Zack, went on her tip toes and kissed his cheek. "Two Zacks, two kisses ha ha!" she giggled and smiled. Her cheeks became naturally rosy. "Well I have to go." she said smiling and walked off to her house.

Zack stayed there and touched his cheek and couldn't believe Claire had kissed him! He ran home in disbelief.

The next morning Claire got up bright and early. She opened the door and let her dog, Zacky out. He was formally known as Zack but she thought adding a "y" would be cute. She got right to work pulling more weeds even though she knew it was going to take her a long time. When she finally finished pulling the last of the weeds she looked around some more. There was a huge boulder in front of her and she decided to go get her hammer and crack it out of the way. She went back inside her house to the tool box she had found the night before and took out the hammer. She walked back out and stood in front of the rock. She held her breathe and visualized where to hit it and swung it above her tiny head and smacked it right down on the large stone. She hit it and hit it until it broke down and she swept the remaining dust away. She was so tired. It had been hours and she was sweating a lot and her face was red. Thankfully, she had finally cracked it.

Zacky came up and barked around her. He didn't stop until he made it clear to her that she was going to have to run after him. She was so tired but she ran after him anyways, playing with him. Her heart pounded and she was finding it very hard to breath. Every time she took a breath, her eyesight went bad. She felt heavy and she tripped, fell on her face and blacked out.

Claire finally woke up and found herself lying down on something soft. She couldn't see very well and her eyesight was very hazy. She could see lights above her. A face with black hair and eyes was next to her. Something shiny was on person's forehead.

"Everything's going to be alright. Don't worry I'll take care of you." she heard a voice say. Then she felt a hand on her forehead stroking her hair. "You have to pace yourself, alright. I know farm work is difficult but you can work at it and keep yourself healthy. You just have to learn to use... a little magic."

Claire smiled weakly at the warm, strong voice. _What is this feeling? I feel protected. I feel secured. I feel... safe. I haven't felt this way in a long time. Poppa? Is that you, I haven't felt this way with anyone other than you._

"Magic... magic... magic..." it rang in Claire's ears. _How, how do I make magic?_ Claire asked herself and then fell asleep again. 

Thanks for reading! What did you think? Oooooh what's Zack got on his mind? You'll have to read and find out! Again, send ideas! Review! Comment! Please! More chapters coming soon!


	5. The Doctor and The Apprentice

Hey thanks everyone! Great reviews! Come on! Any ideas? I'd love to incorporate your fabulous thoughts. So anyways, ENJOY! I'll be posting a drawing for this story very soon on my DeviantArt Profile! Check it out and comment on that too. My profile name is on my FanFiction profile.

DISCLAIMOR: I do NOT own anything from Harvest Moon in any shape, way, or form. All the characters belong to their respectful owners. All I own is the story line and this hear chocolate covered strawberry. Yumm.

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Claire woke up the next day in her own bed. She looked up at the ceiling.

"Was that all a dream? About Poppa?" Claire wondered. Anyways she had to get up. She couldn't stay in bed forever! "Now with this crappy land the mayor gave me." Claire said annoyed.

She got out of bed and changed her overalls from blue to pink. She took out the box of snacks from her luggage and ate it for breakfast. She was too tired to make something in the kitchen. She didn't have any groceries anyways.

"Guess that's what I'm going to do today." She said as she stepped out of the house. She combed through her hair with her fingers and yawned. She walked slowly out of her depressing farm. As she looked to her right, she saw Rick and smiled at him. He blushed and waved. She then saw Popuri come out and whisper something to her brother. Rick's face turned a bright shade of red and he pushed Popuri embarrassed. Claire laughed and walked on. She realized she didn't know her way around the town yet and supposed Gray could show her the way. She went to the blacksmith's door. The sign read 10am – 4pm. She glanced at her watch, 10:45, she had slept that long?

She entered the store and heard the bells chime as she opened the door.

"Welcome. What can I do for you?" Saibara said without looking up from his paperwork.

"Hello." Claire said walking up to the counter and bowing politely. "I am Claire sir, the new farmer. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Well aren't you a lovely, mannered young lady. I'm Saibara, welcome to Mineral Town."

"I'm actually looking for Gray, is he here?" Claire asked.

"Claire?" Gray said wiping his hands on a rag and coming out from the back of the store.

"Hi Gray, are you busy? I was actually wondering if you could show me around. If that's okay with your grandfather." Claire turned to Saibara.

"Well I suppose if it's for the new farmer than I can let you off early for today."

"Thanks." Gray said stiffly and pulled Claire out of the store.

"I just need some stuff from the supermarket."

Gray stood there in front of the shop and looked at Claire.

"You don't have to do that you know." He said to her.

"Do what?" Claire asked.

"Be polite with him, if he yells at you I'm here to defend you okay?"

"I like being polite though,"

"That geezer doesn't deserve it."

"Gray you're too mean!"

"It's getting late let's go." Gray said, they had been arguing for a while and it was a long walk there. Gray lead Claire to the supermarket and held the shopping basket for her. _Jeez she takes a long time, I know there's three kinds of flour but choose one already!_ Gray said in his mind, Claire had now been staring at three bags of flour for ten minutes. He looked at his watch and noticed it was four already.

"Oh my gosh Claire! I forgot I have to go pay the rent at the Inn! I'm sorry , I don't want to leave you here alone but if I don't pay I won't have anywhere to sleep tonight. You know your way back right?"

"It's okay, go on! Shoo!" she said pushing him playfully and taking the basket.

"I'm really sorry. Here." He said throwing Claire ten dollars.

"What?" Claire looked at the money, she didn't want to take it but she didn't have enough in her wallet herself.

She walked around the market and placed her stuff in a basket. She then went to go pay for them.

"Hello… You're a new face." Jeff said to her. He was the man behind the register, he seemed kind but very shy and still a little young.

"Yeah just moved in."

"New farmer? It'll be $25.34."

"Yes. Here you go, thanks!" she said handing him the money and taking both paper bags in her arms.

"Have a nice day… Oh I didn't get your name!"

"Claire, at your service!"

"I'm Jeff, nice to meet you."

Claire walked out of the store carrying two large paper bags. They were a little big for her size. She could barely see over them, she hoped she wouldn't trip. She thought she saw someone in front of her and tried moving to the side quickly but she tripped over her own shoe and fell, right into Doctor Trent's arms.

"Woah, thank you!" Claire said in disbelief. Her groceries had flew ahead of her and landed a few feet from her but they seemed in one piece.

"No problem. Be careful! You sure are clumsy aren't you?" Trent said with his shiny white smile and his warm dark eyes. "How are you doing after the incident?"

"Huh?" Claire said staring at him and daydreaming. He had short, messy black hair and black eyes. That seemed to sparkle and suck you into them. His smile was warm and welcoming. His whole figure itself was fit and sexy. The white coat draped over his perfect broad shoulders. And with the coat a little open, it exposed his well toned chest. It was very muscular, despite the fact that the large coat concealed it.

"The collapsing. Are you alright now?" he asked again, snapping Claire out of her daydreaming.

"Oh yeah. How'd you know about that?"

"I'm Doctor Trent! I took care of you while you were in bed. You worked too hard and collapsed. Pace yourself okay?" he said ruffling her hair and walking to the hospital.

"O-okay." Claire said finding herself, for the first time, speechless. _Was he the one who was stroking my hair?_ She wondered.

"Ooooh someone's got it bad!" someone said from behind Claire. Claire turned around and saw a woman with black hair. Her smile was wide and she was wearing a lovely black-blue dress.

"Oh hello." Claire said surprised.

"Hello! I'm Manna! I've never seen you before, are you the new farmer? Oh you must be so busy! What with all the planting and watering and harvesting! Oh and your farm animals they must be cute! Oh, I probably shouldn't be keeping you from your work. You know how much that bugs people? I mean if someone just kept rambling on and on it would be a mess! Anyways welcome to Mineral Town! What's your name little rancher?"

"Claire! Nice to meet you ma'am." Claire said and walked to her groceries and picked them up.

When Claire finally got home she laid down on her bed and thought about the doctor. His name was Trent and he was so hot! But he did seem a lot older and a little familiar. How old was he, had she seen him somewhere before? Claire wondered.

"I'm gonna cook him something someday!" Claire said happily wondering what Trent's favorite dishes were.

She looked at the clock and it read, Wed. 4:30pm. She decided to go outside and work on her farm a little more. She kneeled down to pick the very last weeds. When she was done, she glanced at her watch it read 4:45. When she turned back to the ground her eyes blacked out. Was she passing out again?

"Guess who!" she heard a familiar voice say.

"Gray!" Claire said a little annoyed. Gray removed his hands from the blonde's eyes and laughed.

"Good guess." He removed his hands and helped her up and they started walking.

As they got closer to the bridge, Gray kept apologizing for leaving Claire alone at the store.

"It's fine, here's the money. I didn't need it thanks." Claire lied, trying to hand Gray his ten dollars but Gray refused them, he insisted Claire take them. She needed them more than him now that she was starting a new life.

It was getting a little late and it was five o'clock now and both of them were standing at the edge of the river that ran on the edge of Claire's farm. Zack had arrived to pick up the shipment but Claire hadn't even noticed, not even Gray. Zack tried yelling but Claire and Gray were so far away they couldn't hear him. He just opened the shipment box but still wondering what the blacksmith's apprentice would do.

"Well, if you absolutely want to repay me," Gray said lowering his voice and hiding his face behind his hat. He looked positively sinister! "you can pay me back," he said grabbing Claire by her waist. "in some way, with your body." He grabbed Claire's wrist and pulled her closer to him.

"Wh- what? In what way?" Claire said blushing. What was Gray planning?

"In a way, where you can…" Gray said stepping forward into her, "SWIM!" He said laughing and lifted Claire. He picked her up and jumped into the river with a screaming Claire in his arms.

Zack heard Claire scream and he closed the lid of the box and looked over at the bridge but he saw nothing. Suddenly, he saw two blonde heads pop out of the water. He looked at the one with shorter, messier hair. The head that belonged to the blacksmith's apprentice, Gray. He loathed him for being able to play around innocently with Claire.

"Gray!" gasped Claire, coming out of the water. "I'm soaked!" she said hitting him jokingly.

"Relax, it's just water. You can dry up and take a shower later." He said calmly but Claire splashed water in his face. With that, Claire had started a splash war. They both jumped around and splashed water in each other's faces.

Seeing the two having such a good time together made Zack's heart ache. He knew he liked Claire as more than a friend but, he also knew that it could never happen. Even if it did happen, no one would approve. Gray was her age and he was a suitable man, respectable enough. He packed up his shipment and started leaving when he turned around one more time and saw the two of them hug each other.

"Thanks again Gray." She said hugging him.

"Yeah no problem." Gray said hugging her back. The hug took him completely by surprise.

They parted from their hug but only a little. Claire still had her hands on Gray's shoulders and Gray still had his hands placed on her waist. Claire smiled her innocent smile and Gray blushed a little. They both leaned in slowly. Even though this was surprising, Gray leaned in a little faster and shut his eyes. Claire leaned in more and kissed him, right on the cheek. Gray quickly opened his eyes, he had just been rejected. It had been the first time he had ever thought someone was going to kiss him and he went for it. Now, here he was being kissed on the cheek. A friendly kiss! Gray coughed and stepped away. Claire was smiling just as innocently as ever, she hadn't even noticed she had rejected Gray. He got out of the water and just had his feet in, he watched as Claire happily splashed around like a fish. Claire got out then and laid on her back. Gray was there next to her. She turned to look at him and they both smiled at each other. She had already considered him as her best friend.

By now, brokenhearted Zack had already left.

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Aww poor Zack huh? ): Well, well, let's just see what happens next time! Meanwhile here's a button! Push it push it! :D Please?  
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	6. HER

Have you been waiting long? Well who cares? Cause it's finally here! :D Chapter Six! "woohoo"? HA.

Hey, everyone! Thanks for reading this far. Means a lot to me! I know it's a good amount of chapters, but each of them are short, so that's good! Uhm just want to thank you all who review and read and comment and such. By the way, thank you to Kyo for being the first one to submit an idea. It helps, it really does. Thank you! OH!

**DON'T FORGET****:** Check out my DeviantArt Profile! I've uploaded my first drawing of this story. I will make more but please feel free to check out some of the other work I have posted. You can find the link on my Fanfiction profile.

**DISCLAIMOR:** I do NOT own Harvest Moon or their characters in any way. Everything belongs to Natsume and their respectful owners. All I own is this storyline and my eraser!

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Thanks for reading! Enjoy!

Claire got up after soaking up the sun and Gray followed her to her house.

"Gray, you're pretty wet, you wanna dry up inside?" Claire offered.

"Uhm well I don't have to work tomorrow. But..."

"Oh don't be a wuss!" Claire said and pushed the blonde boy inside her house.

"Okay!" Gray said tripping over the entrance.

"I'm gonna shower first is that okay?" Claire asked.

"Yeah it's fine." Gray said sitting sown on a wooden chair.

"There isn't really much to do but I got some movies from home and the television is connected. I also brought the food so you can make yourself something to eat. I'll be out in a while." she said carrying her towel and some clothes into the bathroom.

Gray kept fidgeting in his seat. They were only friends right? Nothing would happen anyways, he didn't feel any_ certain_ urges. He shook the thoughts away and rummaged through Claire's DVD collection until he found a decent looking one, Claire had too many chic flicks. He finally chose a racing movie, typical for boys. After he put it in the player he sat back and his stomach started to grumble. He looked over at the bags of groceries, hoping to find a bag of microwavable popcorn. All he found were some ready to cook popcorn kernels.

How hard could it be to heat up a couple of kernels with butter and oil, right? Gray had successfully made himself a bag of microwavable popcorn, what could possible be the difference? Gray thought. He took out one of Claire's pans and three the whole bag of kernels and poured oil all over them. He turned on the stove to high and walked back to the living room. Now all he had to do was wait until the stove dinged or beeped and they would be done!

"How hard can it be, throw the oil and popcorn and just wait for it to ding! That should be easy." Gray thought. Little did he know that he was just as bad as, if not worse than, Karen at cooking.

Claire was now already scrubbing her hair and rinsing it out. She took a chunk of her hair and smelled it, an old habit she had to make sure it smelled nice and fresh. In this case, it would have to smell like strawberries. She took a sniff but it smelled like smoke, not strawberries. _That's weird_ Claire thought. She smelled it again but realized it wasn't her hair! Claire started coughing and she knew something was wrong. The house didn't have fire alarms yet, but she was sure if she had them, they would have sounded already. _How could I leave a boy to cook something? Stupid! Stupid! _Was all she could think as she turned off the water and grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her. She reached for the door and found Gray, comfortably sitting on the couch.

Gray was so into the movie that he didn't notice the smoke until it filled living room. He turned around when he heard the bathroom door open.

"Gray!" Claire yelled and ran to the kitchen. Gray turned around to face the kitchen and to his surprise, there was fire about two feet high and smoke pouring out of the kitchen. He quickly got up and ran there as well.

"I'm sorry! I didn't notice!" Gray said not knowing what to do.

"Just get some water!" Claire yelled frustrated. She turned off the stove and Gray threw a huge pot of water on top of the pan but got Claire wet too.

"Gray! What were you doing? You can't leave the stove unattended! You have to watch what you're cooking!" Claire yelled.

"Uh Claire..." Gray said pointing at her and blushing slightly. Claire was standing there in front of Gray, with only a towel covering her body. Her hair was wet and dripping all over her floor.

"Grow up gray." she said annoyed and blushing and went back in the bathroom and closed the door with a slam.

Gray walked to the kitchen and took a handful of popcorn and threw it in his mouth

"Damn, it's soggy." he said and went back to see the movie.

Claire finally finished showering, got out and handed a dry towel to Gray and offered to wash his clothes while he showered. He nervously obliged after she assured him she wasn't going to go hang his underwear on the school flagpole. Gray had stood there for a moment and said,

"We don't have a school…"

At which Claire had responded with a push into the bathroom and a very loud,

"EXACTLY!"

After Gray registered what she had meant, he took off his clothes inside the bathroom and threw them outside the door. Claire picked up the soggy, filthy clothes and walked outside to wash them in the pond. She then came back inside and dried them with her hair dryer. It took a lot less time then she thought and when she was done, Gray was still inside the shower. She left the washed, dried, and folded clothes on the table with a note attached to them. She left everything but his hat, she took the hat and went outside to stare at the fish in the pond.

"Look at me, I'm Gray and I take longer showers than girls!" Claire said laughing at her own silly joke.

Gray finished up and peeked out of the door a little and noticed his clothes and a note on the table.

'I washed your clothes and dried them. I'm outside if you need me. Feel free to change comfortably. –Claire'

He read the note and let the towel drop to the floor comfortably. He put on all his clothes and then looked for his hat. He had everything but his hat. He had to have his hat! Where was it? He went outside and looked for Claire franticly.

"Claire?" he yelled. Claire turned around and there in her head, was his precious hat.

"Hey gray! Oh, looking for your hat? Haha, sorry I like it I had to try it on-" she said but Gray walked over to her and yanked it off her head. "Ouch!"

"Don't touch my hat, please." he said as calmly as he could.

"Oh okay! Sheesh. I just got it, I didn't think it was so precious to you." Claire said mockingly.

"Well it is!" Gray yelled seriously.

"Right." she said rolling her eyes.

"Just don't touch it okay!"

"God, get over it you sissy girl! It's just a stupid hat!" she yelled back turning around to face him.

"You're the stupid one!" Gray yelled and walked out of her farm fuming.

"Gray, come on." Claire said standing.

Claire got up and walked after him but when Gray saw her stand up, he started running. She tried running after her but of course, Gray was much faster. He sped past the blacksmith and to the winery. He then took a right turn and with lost Claire, in the dark and dimly lit town. So now Claire was here, in the part of town she didn't really know that well. It was getting dark and Claire was now afraid. She kept walking and passed the inn. She then took a left and found herself walking towards the hospital. That thought reminded her of Trent. She began daydreaming about how cute he was when she was snapped back to reality when she bumped into something.

"Ow. Watch it!" a girl with brown hair and green eyes looked her up and down.

"Oh, sorry." Claire said bowing even though she considered the other girl's gesture mean.

"Who the heck are you?" she said rudely

"I'm Claire, the new farmer. Nice to meet you." she said trying to keep her cool.

"Ew what an ugly name. That sucks. The names Karen, I know you wish you were me right? Anyways I don't have time for you loser."

"Excuse me?" Claire said shocked.

"I'm going to the beach. Move it, I wouldn't want to get your disgusting taste in fashion rubbed off on me." Karen said pushing Claire out of her way.

Claire stumbled back a little and stared at Karen walking away, Claire's mouth was wide open. She looked down at her overalls. They were slightly cute, right? Claire's bottom lip trembled and her eyes began to water. She ran all the way home crying, poor Claire hadn't even noticed that she had managed to get to her house all by herself. She opened the door, went in and slammed it shut she then threw herself on the bed and kept crying. _Am I really that ugly? Do I dress unflattering? Why was she so mean? What did I ever do to her? Why? Why?_

Was all Claire could think of, before she slowly cried herself to sleep.

* * *

CHEESES, it looks so short T-T it felt like it would be more. :( OH WELL :D

Aww poor Claire. I just think Ann is pretty nice and we should make Karen be the mean girl for once. What's everyone got against Ann? Anyways, hoped you like it. The more reviews I get the more I'm motivated to post more! :D ~Wuv you guys!~


	7. The Sun, The Sea, and The Ladies Man

Well this took a while but it's finally here. Wow, I think I like this one a lot and I hope you do too. I haven't gotten many reviews from you guys. I hope you still are reading though. Well, to not waste your time any longer, here you go.

BTW: a bunch of these "~" means that a little bit of time has passed.

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Thursday morning, Claire was woken up by a knock on her door. She got up and wiped away any tears she had left and then walked to the entrance. Gray was standing there with his hand behind his neck and his face slightly blushing, he couldn't even look Claire in the face.

"Listen, I just want to apologize for yesterday. I shouldn't have left you alone, you don't even know the town yet and you didn't know about my hat. I was harsh I admit it, but will you forgive me? Did anything happen to you?" he said concerned for his friend's safety.

Claire's eyes got watery again and she threw herself at Gray and cried quietly in his arms.

"Woah, woah. Hey, did something happen? What's wrong?" he said stroking her head.

"Nothing. Nevermind. Uhm, let me get changed. Yes, I forgive you and don't worry, I'm not mad at you." she said wiping her tears away.

"Okay I'll wait for you out here. There's someone I want you to meet. He's a really good friend of mine."

Claire nodded and went back inside. She changed to red overalls with a light pink shirt under it. It was the most comfortable thing she had, besides she had lots of overalls in different colors and they still looked nice_._

_Who cares what she thinks?_ thought Claire.

"Okay, I'm ready! Let's go." Claire said stepping out of her house and closing the door. "So, who is this friend of yours?"

"Just one of my best friends. I think you'll like him. I hope."

_So it's a guy! Oh, I hope its doctor Trent!_ Claire thought to herself.

Gray led her across the south part of the town which she was quite familiar with already.

_The chicken guy lives here with his pink-haired sister and their pink-haired mom. _Claire made a mental note.

Gray took a left turn after passing the Yodel Farm and showed Claire the Town Square. It was just as beautiful as the first time she saw it, wide and empty, yet welcoming nonetheless. But Gray didn't stop there, he took Claire all the way to the beach and stopped in front of the little snack shack she had seen only days before.

"Ready?" he said opening the door slowly.

The lights blinded Claire, but only for a second. When her vision focused she saw colorful banners hanging all across the ceiling. There were different shades of blue and purple accompanied by bright and lively colors of red and orange and yellow. The tables had ocean blue colored table clothes with little palm tree salt and pepper shakers. The napkins were shaped like beach towels and the napkin holders were two beach balls. Of course, there were tiny umbrella toothpicks. Claire stared in awe at the amazing mural of the beach and the ocean on the wall. She was so busy looking around that she stumbled into someone and fell over.

"Ow!" was all she could hear. She knew that Gray was there but that hadn't sounded like Gray…

Claire opened her eyes and saw a young man's face, he was about her age. His skin was tan and he was slightly muscular. Though his hair was covered by a purple bandana, you could tell that he had lovely brown hair just like his eyes.

"Well if you absolutely want to be on top, I don't mind babe. Just ask first." He smirked. His smile was sexy yet devious and it was just plain irresistible.

She got up and realized she was sitting on him. She blushed slightly and apologized. She also bowed, which made her body move.

"Doll face, relax, you don't need to apologize. Just do me a favor and don't move if you're gonna be sitting on top of it." He said pointing to the spot where Claire was sitting on. Claire looked down confused and saw what he meant. She had fallen down and accidentally straddled him. She became frozen with embarrassment and started to fidget, wiggling her body and not knowing what to do. All of a sudden she felt a bump rise beneath her and she knew exactly what had happened. She shot up yelling and going beat red in the face.

"Jesus Kai, what did you do to her?" Gray asked holding Claire who was now as red as a tomato.

"Nothing, gosh!" Said Kai blushing a little and scratching his neck. He was very embarrassed and glanced at the girl he had probably scarred for life. He noticed how she had ran straight to Gray's arms and his buddy had welcomed her without a problem. He understood exactly what was going on.

Gray looked Kai up and down as if to say "what's wrong with you," when he noticed what had scared Claire.

"Oh jeez, really man? Come on! You just met the girl!" Gray yelled annoyed.

"The chick was wriggling on top of it, what did you expect to happen? I ain't gay!" Kai said flustered.

This was weird… He had never had a girl make him this flustered before. There was something strange about that girl. Rare and unique, possibly… tamable? Kai wondered. This girl was different alright, and Kai wasn't going let her slip away so easily. This could turn out to be fun!

"The name's Kai, baby. And yours?" he said putting a finger under Claire's chin and lifting her face up to his. For a moment, Claire had become entranced by his charm and she had stepped away from Gray's arms. "You know, you have such a pretty face!" he said holding her cheek in his hand. He managed to make Claire blush. But she backed away when he inched into her face. He had been rejected, for the first time in his life.

"Oh gosh, well… ha." Claire said blushing.

Kai's jaw dropped. _She rejected me? I was this close to kissing her and she pushed me away?_ Gray snickered at Kai's reaction.

"I'm Claire, the new farmer here. Sorry about earlier." Her face was now returning to its original color.

"Yeah no problem, hey you okay?" Kai said inspecting her. He put his hand on her forehead. If she had rejected him, there had to be something wrong with her.

"Yes I'm fine. Why?" Claire wondered shooing Kai's hand away.

"Claire, this is Kai, he comes here in summer but he leaves in fall. Retard can't stand the cold."

"Says the one with the thick coat on all the time." Kai said poking Gray's side.

"Whatever. Hey Kai why don't you make us something to eat? Claire's new and all and I'm her friend, so this one's on you."

"Heh, you always were the tricky one." Kai said walking to the kitchen. "What'll you have blondie?"

"Uhm, the strawberry snow cone please." She said with her face behind the menu. "Oooh. That looks good."

While Claire was in her own little Menu World, Kai grabbed Gray by the collar and dragged him to the kitchen.

"So, when did you meet her?" Kai said smirking, he knew it didn't work on guys but he enjoyed practicing once in a while. He had an excellent gay-dar.

"A couple of days ago. She's nice isn't she? A little clumsy but she's okay."

"So when'd you guys do it?" Kai asked chopping the strawberries.

"What? We didn't do anything!" Gray was shocked Kai had asked such a question.

"Oh come on, I saw how she clung to you. And my charm had no effect on her. Well, almost no effect." Kai said smiling and congratulating himself on putting yet another girl under his charm.

"Look, one: not all relationships are based on a date and then _that_ like yours are. And two: would you stop it with your charms?" Gray said annoyed.

"Ahhh, someone's jealous!" Kai taunted and pointed the knife at Gray.

Gray snatched the knife away from Kai and slammed it into the wooden cutting board. "Listen, we have no relationship like that, she's just a friend. Go after her for all I care but don't you dare do anything to hurt her."

"Eeep," whimpered Kai.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Claire set down her spoon and wiped her mouth with the napkin. "Mmm, thanks Kai that was delicious."

"Yeah no problem." He said gazing at her eyes. Claire was reeled in easily and the two stared at each other. Gray had just finished his baked corn and reached for his cup of water. He rolled his eyes at the two of them.

Claire reached into Kai's face and closed her eyes. Kai came in closer and closed his eyes. She stuck her lips out and Gray held the water in his mouth, not gulping it but not spitting it out. She got closer to Kai's face and then she blew a quick gust of air on his cheek. Kai opened his eyes startled.

"You had something on your cheek." Claire smiled.

Gray sprayed his water out and laughed. Kai sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. Claire looked at the both of them confused. Gray was nearly falling over with laughter and Kai looked like a pouty little kid.

"That's it!" Kai got up, knocking his chair over and grabbed Claire's arm and pulled her close to him. He tilted her back and closed his eyes as he puckered his lips. Claire was surprised but she extended her arms out, backing away from him. She turned her head away but he still reached in closer and as he was about to kiss her, the door slammed open.

"KAI! I BROUGHT YOU SOME PINEAPPLE PIE!" Popuri skipped in with a slice of pineapple pie in her hands. She stopped and stared at the scene. She let the pie drop but Gray lunged at it and caught it just in time. He knew what was about to happen and thought he should have desert and a show. Popuri's face became red and Kai let go of Claire.

"Popuri! Hey, when did you get here?" he said stepping back.

Claire fell on her butt and crawled to Gray.

"KAI!" Popuri lunged at Kai and started to viciously hurt him.

Claire sat down next to Gray and stared at him wondering if she should help. Gray reassured her that it was best not to get involved. So Claire got comfy and started helping Gray with the pie as both of them watched Popuri violently beat up their friend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

After making sure her point got through, Popuri left the snack shack. Gray walked up to Kai's left side and Claire on his right.

"You gotta love that woman." Gray laughed picking his beaten up friend up.

"THAT'S no woman!"

"It's three o' five. The clinic should still be open. Let's take him before he passes out." Claire suggested.

"Nawh, Popuri always makes sure to leave him within an inch of his life just to make him suffer more."

"Really?" Claire asked astonished.

"Just a theory."

"Ah,"

"GUYS? Hello, friend about to die here." Kai yelled extending his arms up. Claire and Gray picked him up and walked towards the clinic.

_Thank you Popuri! 'Cause of you I'm going to see Trent again! _Claire let her thoughts wander.

"Pull your half of the weight Claire!" Gray yelled.

"Oh yeah. Sorry."

"You know what's gonna be the first thing I do when I get better?" Kai said.

"What?" the blondes asked.

"Beat you two up for eating my pie."

The three laughed happily as they dragged Kai through the town square.

"I am dead serious."

Claire and Gray glanced at each other and dropped Kai like a hot potato.

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding! Guys don't leave me here!"

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DISCLAIMOR: I do NOT own Harvest moon or any of their characters. Everything belongs to their rightful owners. All I own is the storyline and these peppermint candies!

Thanks for reading! What did you think? Funny? Haha, I hope you laughed. REVIEW please.


	8. BOYFRIEND?

Hey, sorry everyone who are my loyal readers T-T with the new school year, gosh its been so busy. OK i will try posting more chapters but its going to be sort of slow, not really but just hand in there please. for those of you who were reviewing, please keep doing so you help me out so much.

without further ado: here you go:

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Elli sorted out the papers she had in front of her. The doctor had left all the folders of his recent patients on her desk for her to sort into the shelves. She softly sighed at the mess Trent had left on her desk and wished he'd be a little tidier. It wasn't the putting away of the folders she minded, it was the folders themselves. The insides were messed up and not in an orderly fashion like the doctor liked them to be. She began to sort through them when the clinic door chimed and in came the new farmer she had treated only days ago and the blacksmith's apprentice dragging in what seemed to be Kai. Shocked, she ran to them worried.

"Oh my! What happened?" she exclaimed.

Both blondes glanced at each other and shared a smirk.

"Poor Kai," Claire started.

"We were at Mother's Hill," Gray continued.

"And he wasn't looking were he was going,"

"He slipped and hurt himself."

"Poor Kai." Claire repeated monotonously.

"Take good care of him!" they said together and threw Kai into the nurse's arms.

Earlier, gray had told Claire that Kai had a huge crush on the nurse and both of them had come up with a sinister plan to do just this.

"Elli? Is someone there?" a voice came from behind the curtains. Claire's ears perked up as she heard the one voice she knew she could never forget.

The curtains were pushed to the side and out came a tall young man with waves of silky black hair. His white coat trailed behind him and his onyx eyes shimmered. Claire's heart skipped a beat.

"Oh Kai! What happened?" asked Doctor concerned. He didn't particularly care for anyone but he was always concerned if they were hurt.

"Poor boy fell on mother's hill!" explained Elli.

"Let's take a look at you." Doctor said signaling Elli to drag him into the examination room.

"Hey Claire, let's go check out the library!" Gray said turning around.

"Oh, okay. Thank you doctor!" Claire yelled hoping to get his attention.

"Yes, no problem." He said slightly glancing. Claire sighed.

Gray went up to Claire and told him yet another embarrassing thing Kai had done to empress Elli and she giggled. Gray laughed along while taking Claire's hand and pulling her out of the Clinic.

"We'll be back for Kai later!" they both yelled.

"Well I'll be! Seems like that boy finally found himself a nice girlfriend. A little late in life if you ask me."

"It would seem so." the doctor observed. He didn't know why, but it bugged him when Elli said the word "boyfriend".

"And you, pretty lady?" Found anyone suitable for you yet?" Kai asked smiling in Elli's arms.

"Oh my!" Elli blushed and helped Kai to his feet.

"Elli, you may flirt with your own boyfriend later. Help me get him to the examination room please."

"Doctor!" she said blushing even harder.

Kai was angry to see that Elli had no interest in dating Kai. Even though he knew she had a major crush on the doctor, he also knew that she was too shy to tell him. This gave Kai an advantage, but as he saw Elli gazing at the Doctor it was a very weak advantage. Luckily, doctor seemed to be always interested in his work only.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.**

Gray opened the door to the library and peeked in. At the desk he saw a cute librarian with glasses and black hair wearing a long denim dress and looking down while writing something.

"Dad, for the last time, no one has checked out your books yet. Nor have they in the last month, nor will they anytime soon."

"Now that's not very nice." Gray said walking in.

"Oh! Gray! Sorry, I thought it was my dad and…. Well, how are you?"

"Pretty good."

"Holy shi-" Claire began but Gray covered her mouth before she let out any other vulgar language.

"Oh, who's this?" Mary said pushing her glasses up her nose.

"I'm Claire nice to meet you. I'm the one taking over the farm." She said slightly reddening.

"The pleasure is mine, welcome to Mineral Town library. We stock all the best books written by my dad. There are a bunch of helpful farming books."

"Thanks, I'll be sure to check them out."

"Oh please do, for my father's sake."

"This is Mary." Gray said interrupting. "The librarian, as you already know. She suggests books for me to read she's also writing a novel."

"Gray! It's nothing really." Mary said blushing.

"Hey cool! Lemme see!" Claire skipped over to Mary and they instantly clicked. It was as if they had been friends and had just seen each other after several years. Gray couldn't get either of them to stop talking.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.**

After saying good-bye to Mary and promising that they would come back the next day, Gray and Claire walked off to the Clinic. Kai was in the middle of being bandaged by the nurse and once they came in and saw the "smooth" Kai blushing, they immediately started cracking up. After yelling and bruising (on Kai's behalf to a certain blonde boy) Gray and Kai left to the Inn while Claire stayed to chat with Elli. Of course, Claire had had to swear she would talk about Kai to the nurse. After some time of getting to know each other and finding out that Elli could be like the big sister Claire never had, Elli returned to her paper work and Claire walked into the doctor's office.

"Oh, you're still here?" Doctor said startled. "Would you like a check up?"

"Uhm… yes please."

"Okay, well sit on the examination bed and I'll be right back."

"So thanks by the way for taking care of me when I collapsed." Claire said hoping to make conversation as he filled in Claire's medical folder.

"No problem. Don't work too hard."

"I promise I won't!"

"So how have you been?" Trent tried to stay calm but every time he looked at Claire he found himself admiring her radiance.

"I've been good. Thanks for… for making me feel safe."

Trent looked at Claire blushing and looking down at her shoes. Even in this unflattering light, she still looked adorable. Her hair was silky and bright. Eyes, the color of turquoise gems, cotton candy lips and cherry cheeks, she was so cute. She was amazing, beautiful, stunning and so… so… so young! What was he thinking? Claire was amazingly young and perky. He knew he shouldn't think this way and yet, he found himself unable to remove his eyes. But he just saw her as beauty and nothing more. Nothing more than a simple patient…. right?

"or… octor… doctor!" Claire's worried voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Is everything alright?"

"Huh? Yes! Yeah, sorry. Uhm you look fine, no need for examination here! Oh well, will you look at the time, how did it get so late? Thanks for coming, gotta close up bye!" he said pushing Claire out of the room, then out of his office and finally, out the door of the clinic itself. Elli stared at him as if he were a mad man and he himself needed a treatment.

"Doctor? We don't close for another twenty minutes." She announced.

"I uh, need to finish some research." He explained, not looking at Elli, and stumbled back into his office.

Outside, Claire registered what had just happened and realized the feeling of rejection. She glanced at the sign and then at her watch. Had he not wanted her there _that_ bad? So much as to throw her out even if they weren't closed yet? She sulked all the way to the Inn to meet up with the guys.

As she walked in she was greeted by an orange haired girl named Ann. She was introduced to her father Doug, and several of the other men from Mineral Town. They seemed to be having a good time, chatting, drinking and laughing heartily. Ann offered to take her upstairs and show her the way. Claire followed Ann and got to see where the guests stayed. The Inn was nice and clean and in perfect living conditions. Claire promised to stay over someday. Ann was delighted to hear that a new buddy would be coming over. Claire had made great friends with all the girls in town, all except for Karen but she couldn't worry about that know, she had to go see how Kai was doing. And with that, she excused herself and walked over to the next door.

Without any thought or warning, Claire swung the door open and greeted them with a half "Hi gu-"

As she stood there with the door wide open she found the three boys half naked. Gray was holding his night shirt in his hands about to put it on, his toned stomach glistened in the florescent light bulbs of the inn. Kai also had his shirt off and was well on his way of working on his belt and his arm muscles showed off perfectly without anything to cover them. Cliff was barely taking his shirt off and his face was flushed red as he stared in Gray's direction. SLAM, Claire shut the door as fast as she could and almost ran to Ann's door.

"Claire? What happened?" Ann said very confused but Claire had already passed her door when she turned around.

"No-nothing happened. Woah!" Claire stepped back and her foot slipped on the end of the step of the stairs. She felt her heart stop and suddenly saw Ann lung for her hand but Claire was already on her way down the stairs. Claire managed to turn herself around in the air as she fell in order to try catching herself on her hands. As she approached the end of the stairs she saw a flash of black hair and felt herself land on something unpredictably soft.

"You sure are clumsy aren't you?" Claire opened her eyes and looked up at Doctor Trent's smiling face.

"Sorry!" she said quickly getting up. She brushed herself off and both of them went upstairs.

He knocked on the boys' bedroom door, something Claire should have done, and waited for the door to open. Kai opened the door and looked at Doctor Trent then down at Claire who was now looking away and blushing.

"Kai, I came here to give you these medications, you should take them for your wounds and I also brought you a pack of band-aids incase you needed some." Doctor told Kai in a serious tone.

"Kay thanks." Kai said stiffly.

What was going on? Did they not like each other? Claire thought

"Claire! Oh my, you're absolutely red!" Doctor said holding Claire's chin. Kai and Gray lunged forward slightly and gasped softly. Claire's face got even redder as she blushed at the touch of the doctor's hands on her face.

"Come, lets go check you up at the clinic." He said turning.

"Wait but." She looked back into the boy's room remember that her and the boys were going to play a game with Ann.

"Claire you can spend time with your boyfriend Gray tomorrow, right now I'm concerned about your health." Trent said without a thought.

"WHAT?" Claire, Ann, Gray and Claire yelled out.

"I knew it!" Kai said triumphantly.

"Shut up Kai!" the three yelled at him.

Claire followed the doctor downstairs and to the door. She said good-bye to Doug and excused herself.

_Why does he think Gray is my boyfriend? Do we make a good couple? He is pretty handsome, I feel comfortable around him and he makes me laugh. On the other hand Kai may be a ladies man but for good reasons, he is devilishly handsome. I wonder if Kai has a girlfriend, what about Gray? And OH MY GOD was Cliff staring at Gray?_

_

* * *

_

XD ahaha, so how do you like it? sorry for all of you cliff lovers, ;) review please!

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Harvest Moon or its characters, everything goes to their respectful owners. All i own is the story line and this fluffy pencil topper.**


	9. Doctor's Past

Okay everyone, i tried updating as soon as i could. enjoy please! :D lots of stuff to be learned from this one here. it may be small but i'm sure you'll love it. atleast i hope you will! haha. anyways i'll try updating sooner. ENJOY! :D

* * *

Claire and the doctor arrived at the hospital. He opened the door and the both stepped in and walked into the check up room. Elli was still there and she was just finishing her work. As Claire climbed onto the examination bed Elli poked her head in and excused herself. Claire said goodbye and Elli left to her grandmother's house.

"So Claire, lets see." He examined her thoroughly and came out with the conclusion that she was fine. He walked over to her and lifted himself up on the bed next to her.

"So you just moved here didn't you?" he said looking at her.

"Yeah." She responded nervously, his body being so close set her stomach into a whirl wind of crazy butterflies.

"Have you met anyone yet?"

"Yeah, actually I think I've met everyone. Well, mostly everyone my own age. Everyone here is extremely nice."

"Aren't they?" Trent looked to the ceiling and closed his eyes resting a bit. About three minutes passed and Claire finally broke the silence.

"Doctor?"

"You can call me Trent." He said smiling at her.

"Gray isn't my boyfriend." She said getting red and looking down at her shoes.

"Oh. Alright."

"So, I know you weren't born here. Why did you decide to come?" Claire said trying to change the awkward subject. Luckily, Trent took the opportunity quickly.

"Well, I finally got my degree and decided to come to the place that every other doctor had overlooked."

"That's amazing."

"Thank you." Trent blushed and looked away. "I just wanted to get as far away as possible from my family."

"What? Why?" Claire looked up at him.

"Well, my family has had problems in the past. When I was young, my father wasn't the best man on the earth. He yelled at me all of the time and never appreciated me. Whenever I showed interest in medicine he threw all of my experiments out and told me to focus on something like flipping burgers, he told me I was never going to be anything good for the world. My mother didn't care and she didn't help out either. For that reason, I had a hard time opening up to anyone at school and no one was my friend. I would get bullied every day and no one could see my true potential. I was the kid that sat on his porch with no friends, watching the boys kick a soccer ball around."

Claire was so touched but she couldn't talk. She stood up with Trent so he could speak better. He leaned back on the wall.

"One day," the doctor continued, "a girl came up to me. She asked me why I didn't play with anyone; I told her I didn't know how to play. She offered to teach me and every day she would come over with a ball and we would kick it around. Then one day when I didn't feel like playing she sat next to me and we talked. I finally had found someone I could trust; I told her everything, about my dad and my mother and all of my research on medicinal plants. On the day she was supposed to finally get me to play with the rest of the boys, she moved away. Before she left I saw her whisper something to her friends in pink pigtails. Her friends came up to me and told me that she had never cared. It was a dare from one of the boys to get to know about me and she told everyone my problems, they all stared at me as I walked down the halls, whispered about me in class and passed notes around that I knew were about me. I couldn't believe she had betrayed me like that. I couldn't trust anyone after that, and as a result no one was ever close to me. I've been alone always, so I'm used to keeping everything to myself."

Trent looked over at Claire to see her reaction. She was shaking and he was sure she was disgusted about his past. "Claire?" he touched her shoulder gently.

Claire threw her arms around Trent. She sobbed into his chest. Trent was stunned and kept his hands out.

"Trent, I promise you that as long as I live," she continued crying. "I will always be here for you. You can forget about your past, I will be here whenever you need someone to talk to. You won't be alone ever again." She finally let go and Trent smiled warmly at her.

"Thank you Claire." They stood in the dimly lit room. Claire looked at her watch and noticed it was 7:30, she should get back to the Inn to say good bye then walk back home. Trent walked her to the door.

Claire reached for the door knob and was about to say good bye. Trent grabbed her and hugged her tightly from behind. Claire was speechless, she was so happy he had hugged her, but she couldn't show the gratitude because she was facing foreword. Trent let his grip loosen and his heart sank when all Claire said was "Good night." and left out the door. He stood there in front of the door not knowing what to do, his heart thumped a thousand times a minute but why? He couldn't like Claire, it was wrong. She was just too young, and yet…

Claire calmed down and breathed in and out as she walked to the Inn. Outside on the steps she saw Ann. When Ann caught a glimpse of Claire she jumped up and waved.

"Claire, there's a call for you!"

Claire ran into the Inn and walked to the phone. Ann poured the men another round of drinks and put it all on Duke's tab… _again_.

"Hello?" Claire said wondering who on earth it could be.

"Claire?" she heard a familiar voice on the other end of the phone.

"JACK?" she yelled.

"Hey, what's up sweetie?" Claire screamed and jumped up and down. Ann almost spilled the drinks and looked over at Claire who mouthed 'sorry.' A rumbling noise came from upstairs and three boys in their pajamas tumbled down the stairs.

"What's wrong? Is Claire okay?" Gray and Kai said worried.

"She's fine, she's talking to someone on the phone." Ann said without looking at them.

"Who?" the boys asked.

"I don't know. Wait here, I'll see what I can pick up." Ann walked over to the spot where she could easily eavesdrop to conversations of people on the phone without getting noticed. She pretended to wash out the cups.

"So how have you been cutey?" Jack said laughing.

"Shut up, I've been fine."

"Of course, my little Claire is so strong and doesn't need help right?"

"You bet! I miss you so much!"

Ann's ears perked up and millions of questions started forming in her head, she tried blocking them out in order to listen better.

"How about I come over?"

"Oh that would be wonderful Jacky!"

"Claire, honey don't call me that, its sounds like a girl's name. And guess who has a ticket to tomorrow's earliest boat ride to Mineral Town?"

"NO WAY!" Claire yelled once again into the phone.

"That's right, early at six I'll officially step onto the dock where you live."

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Claire couldn't even speak all she could do was yell like a crazy girl. And at that point everyone at the Inn already thought she was one.

"So get some sleep my little angel."

"Alright, I love you!"

"I do too Claire, and I can't wait to see you again."

"Bye" Claire said and put the phone down. Without another word to anyone she happily skipped out of the Inn and towards her house.

"What was that?" Kai said walking over to Ann. Her eyes were as wide as saucers.

"Three words." She said snapping out of it.

"What?" Gray asked confused.

"I heard three important words that she said into that telephone." Ann repeated.

"What were they?" Cliff asked not really caring.

"I love you." She said looked up to see the boys' reactions.

"What?" they all three yelled.

"Does Claire have a boyfriend?" Kai asked turning to Gray.

"How would I know?" Gray said defending himself and thinking thoroughly.

"You're her best friend!"

"I am? She didn't mention a lover." Gray said blushing at the word.

"We'll see tomorrow, I'll go earlier to the shack." Kai offered.

"I should go too."

"It'll be too obvious that we know something, I'll see and tell you as soon as I see you."

"Alright."

With that, the three boys left upstairs to get a good night's rest for the next adventure in the morning. Ann was about to follow them and listen to their plans when Duke offered another round.

"No! Duke, you'll take forever to pay the debt and your way too drunk! All of you go home know the Inn is closing now!" Ann yelled frustrated.

"Nonsense, let them stay, I'll cover for you Ann, go take your rest." Doug came out and patted his daughters head lovingly.

That night was going to be restless for the four of them. But Claire would be sleeping like a baby, Jack's 'baby.'

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Woah! What's claire not telling us? and who knew Trent grew up that way? Did you like? Please review everyone. critiques and comments are welcome. thanks for reading!

_**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING**_. all i own is the story line and this here scrunchy. :)


	10. Oh, Brother

Sorry i've taken long :( i'm not doing my homework because of this! haha, thanks to everyone supporting me, i haven't seen kiyo in a while XD and miss lovey two shoes: thank you so much! THis being my first harvestmoon fanfiction, heck its my first fanfiction ever! it makes it so much harder XD please give me ideas and support i love you guys!

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As he opened his eyes slightly, a blur of golden hair appeared before his eyes. Once his eyes came into focus he saw Gray's face in front of his, standing on the side Kai's bed. He looked over at the clock, it read 4:50.

"Gray, do you know how early it is?" Kai said pulling the covers over his face.

"But Kai, you know how long it takes you to get ready and how slow you walk, you need to get there before the first ship comes!" Gray said sternly pulling the covers completely off.

"Don't worry I'll check up on your girlfriend for sure." Kai pulled the pillow from underneath him and placed it softly over his face.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Gray leaned over the bed more and pushed down on the pillow, attempting to suffocate his friend.

"But you got a huge crush on her bro." Kai said pulling the pillow off calmly.

"Says the guy who got excited when she fell on him." Gray said crossing his arms.

"Oh please, get over yourself you probably liked seeing that." Kai teased.

"Shut up I'm not gay." Gray said looking away blushing. By now Cliff had woken up with their arguing and was sitting down looking at both boys in their pajamas. He flinched at the word 'gay.'

"Oh really?" Kai said getting up with a mischievous look on his face.

"Kai? What are you going to do? Stop smirking, you're creeping me out." Gray said stepping back a bit. Kai lunged for Gray and grabbed his arms. Gray toppled over on his bed and was now on his back. Kai smirked down at him holding his arms above his head. Kai was directly over Gray, his legs spread out evenly over the blonde's.

"Kai get the hell off!" Gray blushed.

"Aww look at him struggle. Not much of the strong type huh? Wouldn't that make you a 'uke'?" Kai had on the biggest smirk, his brown hair falling just a bit above his eyes.

Gray pushed Kai away and walked to the bathroom in a fury. If the red on his face was from blushing or anger Kai would never know.

"Guess I took it too far huh?" he said turning to the third boy in the room who had been staring at them.

"You shouldn't mess with Gray. He doesn't like it." Cliff finally uttered a word and it hadn't been what Kai wanted to hear. Kai could be mean but he took pity on the weak, so he decided not to say anything hurtful to Cliff. Cliff could go complain to Ann. It could result in getting kicked out of the Inn, Claire definitely wouldn't take him in and Popuri was too crazy to go with. He got dressed, walked to the bathroom and knocked on the door.

"Gray hurry up." Kai said annoyed.

"Go screw a tree." Gray's enraged voice came from inside.

"Real mature Gray, real mature." He whispered to himself.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.**

Claire awoke with the sun in her eyes and the birds chirping. She got up and dressed herself in green overalls, the ones Jack had given her. For the first time since she was in Mineral Town she put on earrings, a bracelet and a necklace. All were gifts from Jack, she couldn't wait to see him. She gulped down milk and cereal and exited the door. She sprinted to the town square and caught her breath. She skipped into the beach just as a ship was seen on the horizon. She jumped up and down and squealed. She didn't even notice Kai stepping foot on the beach. She ran to the pier as the ship docked.

Kai was about to wave to Claire when he suddenly saw Claire jump at someone on the boat. He stood there watching the boy get glomped by his golden-haired friend. Once he got Claire off of him he stepped onto the dock and breathed in the salty air. He had brown hair covered by a blue hat. He looked just like the city boys Kai had seen only two weeks before. Baggy plaid sweater, skinny jeans, and a T-Shirt. He then turned to Claire, Kai noticed she had on jewelry for the first time and was that make up? She looked so pretty all dressed up.

_Wait, the only reason girls dress up is for guys. Guys they like, does that mean Claire likes this guy? Oh no, he must be her boyfriend. Gray will be devastated, he does like her doesn't he?_

Claire hung onto the boy's arm as if her life depended on it. Kai had had enough and slammed the door as he entered the shack.

Claire walked into town and greeted everyone. They all stared at her new friend but no one questioned his relation to her. She walked into the library and Jack started flirting with Mary. Not accustomed to it Mary was extremely shy, especially since Claire shot death glares at her. Mary wondered why Claire's boyfriend would be flirting with her when Claire was right there. Claire dragged Jack out of the library and to the Inn. There, they were greeted by Ann, Gray, Cliff and Kai. Ann was more than excited to meet this new Jack person but Cliff couldn't care less and the brunette and the second blonde were beyond annoyed.

"Hey guys, meet Jack!" Claire said excited.

"Hello Jack, I'm Ann!" she grabbed the handsome boy's hand and shook it eagerly.

"Hello Ann, how are you? Such beauty should be doing fine on this day, though the day may be pretty it does not compare." Jack said kissing her hand.

"Oh my!" Ann said giggling.

"This is Cliff, Kai and Gray." Claire said pointing to the three boys.

"Hey" Kai and Gray mumbled not looking in his direction.

"Hi Jack, I'm Cliff, welcome to Mineral Town. Will you be staying with us tonight?" Cliff said shaking his hand just as eagerly as Ann had.

"Well I don't know," Jack said pulling his hand away.

"Did you see how he flirted with Ann? Claire doesn't deserve to be treated like that!" Gray whispered to Kai.

"Your right, maybe we should tell Claire," Kai suggested.

"You bet I will!" Gray responded.

"Let me go get you something to drink Jack, Ann want to come with me?" Claire said stepping forward.

"Claire, look out!" Ann yelled but it was too late. Claire tripped over a chair and fell on her face.

"Claire!" Jack ran to her and picked her up in his arms, his tight muscles showing through his sweater.

"I'm fine," Claire said wincing.

"Where's the hospital?" Jack said ignoring Claire.

"Follow me," Ann said running to the door. Kai and Gray followed, Cliff stayed behind to fix up a bed for the new guest.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.**

The bells of the clinic's door chimed as Jack stepped inside with Claire in his arms. Elli jumped up quickly and received information of what had happened. Without having to be called, the doctor came out quickly.

"What happened? Claire!" Trent froze in his tracks, who was that kid holding Claire? The boy had a tuff of brown hair sticking out of his hat and he was very handsome. He snapped out of it, he had to help her quickly. As Elli cared to Claire's wounds Trent talked with the group.

"Hello, and who may I inquire, are you?" Trent asked shaking Jack's hand.

"Jack, you?"

"I'm the doctor."

"Please take care of Claire, I love her so much." Jack said worried.

Ann and the boys gasped. Trent's heart clenched in his chest, he felt like he couldn't breathe. The color drained from his face. How could he be so stupid? Of course Claire would be taken, he was too old, and she needed to find someone her age.

"Doctor, she's ready. Nothing's wrong with her just some bruises." Claire walked out blushing.

"Told you I was okay."

"Well, we'll be going back; it's been a long day." Ann said dragging Kai and Gray with her.

Claire walked over to Jack and held his hand. He hugged her and they kissed each other's cheeks. Trent couldn't take it anymore and he turned around to go to his office.

"Jack, go home and get yourself comfortable, I'll be there in a while. You can ask Ann to take you there, go catch up with them." Claire sent Jack on his way with Elli who had offered to show him the way instead of Ann.

Claire stood in the waiting room for a while and slowly walked to Trent's office. She pushed the curtains to the side and cleared her throat. Trent looked up quickly and blushed when he saw her.

"Hi," she said blushing.

"Hello Claire, have a seat." He said pointing to a chair next to him. She walked over and sat down. There was a pause of awkward silence that lasted about five seconds but seemed like years to them.

"Watcha doing?" she finally asked pointing to notebook.

"Just writing down some medicine formulas, the old ones were outdated and the pages were getting torn."

"Interesting, so how have you been?"

"Alright, and you?"

"I've been great, the farms prospering amazingly!"

"I'll bet, you're not tiring yourself out too much are you?"

"Don't worry doctor, I'll take care of my health." She said annoyed.

"I already told you, my name's Trent, and I don't mean to sound boring, I care about you." He realized what he had said and blushed.

Claire turned equally red and reached for a pen to occupy her hands with. She looked down and finally put the pen down. "Thank you," she said in a whisper.

Claire's small hand was cupped with Trent's larger hand. She looked up at him and Trent smiled warmly. She leaned on his shoulder and they sat there in the dimmed lights of the clinic.

Claire got the great idea of poking Trent in the ribs and he jumped up surprised.

"What was that? You're going to get it!" Trent turned to her and started tickling her sides.

"Oh my god! Stop!" she laughed as she tried poking him too, she found that he was just as ticklish as she was if not more so. Claire smiled evilly as Trent pulled back holding his sides.

"Oh no, please Claire don't!" Trent ran behind his desk and Claire shoved the chairs aside to follow him. She moved left, and he moved right. When she moved right he moved left. Claire ran around but couldn't catch up with Trent. Having longer arms, Trent leaned over and poked Claire, she yelled and flinched back. Thinking she had waited enough, Claire jumped over the desk and landed in front of a very surprised Trent. She started tickling him and he started laughing uncontrollably. His laugh was sexy, Claire could hear the maturity in his voice but there was still a childlike quality in it.

In an attempt to stop Claire he started tickling her back. Her squealing sixteen-year-old laugh filled the clinic and she finally gave in.

"Alright Trent, you win, you win!" she yelled laughing still.

"You asked for it! Hahaha!" he calmed down and looked down at her. She smiled widely and he smiled back. Trent couldn't control himself any longer and he threw his arms around her tiny body, engulfing her in a tight hug. She took her hands out and hugged him back. As she rested her head on his chest she could hear his heart beat. It was the most beautiful sound she had ever heard.

Trent pulled back suddenly. "Oh Claire, Jack won't like this." Trent said guiltily.

"Why would Jack care?" Claire said crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

"Claire! He's your boyfriend, you can't fool around with other guys!" Trent said surprised.

"You think Jack is my boyfriend?" Claire burst out laughing.

"Claire, is there something you're not telling me?"

"Trent!" she kept on laughing, holding on to her stomach. "Jack is my brother!" she slid against the wall toppling over in laughter.

"Brother?" Trent said shocked.

Claire finally calmed down and got up. "Trent, yes Jack is my brother, he came to visit me today but he's going home tonight. How could you think Jack would be my boyfriend?"

Trent stood there trying to soak everything in. "Wow, I feel foolish."

"Oh shut up, talk normally I know you're not all formal."

"Ha ha, alright."

"I have to go and take him to the dock, I'll see you tomorrow Trent."

"Good bye Claire," he said waving as she stepped out.

_Wow, brother. Who would have thought? Not that I care of course. I do enjoy her company however, she's amazing. I can be myself with her. _Trent's thoughts wandered as he still felt the tingle of Claire's fingers on him. Tickling was alright wasn't it?

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.**

"Good bye Jack!" Claire stood on the dock waving a handkerchief to the boat.

"Have fun sis!" Jack said saluting her.

"You too! I love you!"

"Me too Claire!"

"Bye Jack," she said now to herself, "thank you for coming. I'm going to miss you."

Inside Kai's shack, Gray and Kai had fallen out of their chairs and spit out their drinks when they heard Jack say 'sis'.

"They're siblings?" Kai yelled.

They looked at each other and began laughing at how foolish they had acted. Claire came in to sort everything out incase they hadn't known either.

"Gray, Kai you didn't think Jack was my boyfriend right?" Claire asked nervously.

"Nope," Gray said getting up.

"Never crossed my mind." Kai said sipping his coffee silently.

"Hmm," Claire said. _Neither of them though that, why did _you_ think that Trent? Why did you care? Were, you jealous? _"So frustrating." Claire mumbled.

"What is?" Kai asked.

"Nothing, I have to go talk to Popuri." Claire said walking to the door.

"I'll go with you" Kai stood up.

"No it's okay Kai, if you're there she'll never listen." Claire laughed.

"Oh yeah? Try and stop me, I have just as much right to go see her as you do." Kai walked over to Claire. He stopped within an inch of her face.

Claire leaned into his ear and softly whispered, "Kai, will you stay here pretty please?" and blew in his ear. It sent shivers up his spine. Claire knew she had the boy frozen and she exited the shack. By now, she was immune to his charm.

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Disclaimer: i don't own harvest moon. just the story line.

Thanks for reading please review! ideas and critiques welcome! tell your friends to read :D


	11. The Promise

Thank you for still reading my story everyone. I want to apologize for not updating as soon as you would like me to. I've been very busy but nonetheless it's been nagging me so here you go! Please enjoy, I worked hard for you all! Thanks to the old readers who still follow this story and to the new ones I have gotten thank you all so much for you're support and reviews. They really do help. I have two weeks all for you now so enjoy!

**DISCLAIMOR: **I own NOTHING. Everything goes to their respectful owners and I own only the storyline. (:

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. Claire stood patiently at the door.

"Claire? Is that you?" Claire turned around and spotted Rick inside the chicken fence. She walked over to him.

"Hey Rick," she said extending her hand out to shake his.

"Hey Claire, what brings you here?" he said taking her hand and trying to look as old as he could. He was only sixteen and a year younger than Claire.

"I need to talk to Popuri, is she here?"

The door opened as if on cue and Popuri stuck her head out. "Hello?" she turned to look at Claire and her brother.

"Popuri! Hey, can I talk to you?" Claire said letting go of Rick's hand and walking over.

"Of course, I was just going to go to the hot springs, want to join me?"

"Uhm, I don't really care for a hot bath right now but I'll walk with you there."

"Okay," Popuri went back inside to get her things.

"So how's the farm coming?" Rick asked hoping over the fence and walking to Claire.

"It's pretty good, a little hard work here and there but I'm doing great so far. How about you, how are things here at the Poultry Farm?"

"It's going pretty good, have you met everyone in town yet?"

"Yup, they're so nice." Claire smiled.

"Yes everyone is pretty decent around here." Rick blushed.

After a few seconds of awkward silence the two heard laughs and footsteps coming from the Yodel Farm direction. From where they were standing, two figures could be seen running over to the Poultry Farm.

"Oh no," Rick whispered.

"Hey guys!" Claire yelled and waved.

"There she is!" Kai pointed and he and Gray ran over to her.

Kai ran to Claire and stopped right in front of her. Gray said hi to Rick but Rick seemed more interested in what Kai was going to do to Claire, he didn't like Kai at all, he hoped Kai wouldn't do anything to her.

"Kai, I told you to stay!" Claire yelled.

"Hey, baby calm down. You dropped this when you walked out of the restaurant; I just wanted to give it back." He opened Claire's hand and placed the item in her palm. He closed her hand back up and lifted her bangs and kissed her on her forehead. "You're smart, but you still can't resist." Kai was talking about the blush that had crept up on Claire's face at the touch of his lips.

"Oh please," Gray shoved Kai to the ground and opened Claire's locket. "He took it when you were in his face, and look," he pointed to the third picture in her locket, in it was a picture of Kai smirking. "He put his picture in here so you would have him, what did he say? Oh yeah, 'in your heart.'" He flicked the photo out of the slot and threw it at Kai.

"Cute, but pathetic." Claire said looking down at Kai. "Now, where were we Rick?" she latched onto Rick's arm and walked into his house.

Rick's heart beat faster, Claire was so warm. As soon as they stepped inside she let go of him. Rick's moment of happiness was gone. She called out to Popuri and said hi to Lillia.

"Ready, let's go." Popuri and Claire stepped out of the house and made their way to the hot springs. "So, I saw you with that Jack guy!" Popuri said nudging her elbow to Claire's side.

"Ahaha, he's my brother."

_Her brother? Oh, how embarrassing! I thought they were going out. _Popuri thought.

"I know!" Popuri lied, "He's cute that's why, is he single?" she said hiding a blush.

"My brother? Cute? Yuck! Haha. Hmmm I think he is." Claire thought again, _Popuri, Kai and Gray didn't even think Jack was my boyfriend. Is Trent jealous then? _

"Well anyways, what's up? You don't want to go for a swim, why'd you come then?" they came into the forest and watched two squirrels scurry by them.

"Well actually, uhm I have sort of a problem. You see, nobody thought Jack was my boyfriend except uhm, this one person."

"Who?" Popuri asked confussed.

"Just someone,"

"Well, if you're not going to tell me than this is going to be difficult but I guess we can work it out."

"It's just someone, no one important"

"Well okay, what's up?

"Well, he thought that Jack was my boyfriend, when clearly all of you knew he was just my brother."

"Mhm, we all thought that!" Popuri could feel her fake smile coming on.

"I don't know if I'm over thinking it or whatever, but I just think maybe… I don't know…"

"Well, what happened?" Popuri said letting Claire go up the stairs first.

"Well we were just playing around and we started this tickle fight," the two girls got to the top of the hill and Claire waited for Popuri as she changed into her bathing suit and soaked into the warm water. Claire only took her shoes off and dipped them in to keep them from getting cold in the night air.

"then he just hugged me. I was laughing from the tickling and he just embraced me in this warm hug." Claire threw her hands out and wrapped them around herself to give Popuri a visual; she just laughed and listened intently. Her eyes shone like crystal pink orbs. "Then, he just let go. He said that my boyfriend wouldn't be happy if he caught us playing like that. That's when I told him that nothing was going on and that Jack was my brother."

"Claire," Popuri looked up to catch her friend's reaction. "do you like him?"

Claire seemed to jump at the question. She didn't know the answer. "I… I don't know."

"Because it sure seems like he likes you Claire. And you guys seem like you can have a great time. I think he really likes you because no one else would think your brother is your boyfriend unless they feel jealous about any other guy being with you."

"You're right!"

"So who is it?" Popuri smiled eagerly.

"I'll tell you later, see ya!" Claire picked up her shoes and ran to the door.

"What? Claire, no wait!"

Claire stopped before reaching the door. "Oh, and Popuri, the thing you saw at Kai's snack shack the other day,"

Popuri shooed Claire away with her hand, "I know, I know. Kai can be, well Kai."

"Yeah. And thanks!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Summer had ended and for the first time in ages, Kai had decided to stay until the next fall. He stayed at the Inn and everyone was very happy to have him for such a long time, though most of them betted that he'd leave in winter. Well, everyone except Rick who pulled his hair out when his sister came screeching into the living room with "good news."

The first morning of fall, Claire woke up and dressed in her first long sleeved undershirt. She went outside and to her surprise, the apples she had noticed in summer had finally ripened. Claire went back inside, grabbed her basket and filled it with bread, cheese she had made with her cow's milk, and strawberry milk she had made the previous day. She left the basket on the counter and went outside to pick three apples. She carried the apples back in her house and washed them.

"This'll be a great surprise for Trent! I'll make him an apple and walnut salad!" Claire cut the apples, mashed up some walnuts and tossed in lettuce. She put it in a plastic tub and sealed it. She picked up the basket and walked out of her farm. Checking her watch, it was 7:53 am now and she walked quicker. Claire didn't want anyone to see her take a lunch to Trent. Though it was Wednesday, she knew the doctor would still be there and without Elli to keep talking.

She reached the door and knocked on it. Usually Trent would have said they were closed but no one answered her. After five minutes of waiting and knocking she finally gave up. Frustrated, she walked home. Once she was at her farm, she walked to the bridge, placed the basket next to her and sat down. _Where could he be, if he didn't answer me he probably went somewhere. To Elli's house to take care of her Grandmother, or to Rick's farm to check up on his mother? _

"Whatever, I'm just going to go and eat this and see if the Kappa, May told me about is real!" Claire stood up, grabbed her basket and walked out of her farm. She stomped to the forest and past Gotz's house and finally took a right and she could see the clearing to the lake.

As she stepped into the clearing, the soft winds blew her hair away from her face and she breathed in the fresh water smell. Claire walked to a nearby stump and put her things on the ground and sat on the stump, watching a leaf create a ripple in the water. She let her thoughts wander until she heard a rustling near a bush. Quickly, she grabbed a branch next to her basket and stood up, branch up and in front of her, she stepped forward carefully. The bushes parted and something stepped out of the bush.

"Claire?" Trent's hair was covered in leaves and he was not wearing his lab coat, but only a thin sweater.

"Ahh!" Frightened, Claire stumbled backwards and fell. Trent ran to her side and helped her up.

"Claire, are you okay?" Trent said trying not to laugh. He put the herbs he had in his hand on the ground and carried Claire to the stump.

"Yeah, I'm fine, you didn't need to carry me!" she said annoyed

"Excuse me for helping." He said smiling.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well," he said standing up, "I'm here to collect some herbs for my medicines, and you?"

"No reason." Claire blushed; she didn't want Trent to know she was looking for him, how pathetic would that be?

"What's this?" he picked up Claire's basket.

"Nothing!" Claire jumped to her feet but Trent was fast as well and lifted the basket over his head.

"You're not seriously going to pull the 'I'm-taller-than-you' trick are you?" she said jumping to retrieve it.

"You're right, here." He gave it back to her and sat down.

Claire sighed. "Actually, I made you a salad. I was going to bring it to you at the clinic but when I knocked on the door and you weren't there… Well, I was going to eat it by myself."

"Oh?"

"Would you stop it? You know how much it annoys me when you talk formally! Here!" she said throwing the basket into Trent's lap. "I'm going home."

"Wait," Trent caught Claire's wrist. "Stay."

Without a word, Claire sat back down on the stump and watched Trent open the tub with the salad. She saw him smile as he inspected the nutrition value the salad held. Claire smiled and watched him eat the salad and open the strawberry milk she had made for him. He was adorable when he ate things he liked. The corners of his mouth widened when he opened the milk and his beautiful black eyes seemed to sparkle. He was so handsome, everything Claire could imagine and more. He was fun, kind and respectful. And if Popuri was right? Maybe Trent did like Claire, but she didn't want to think of that now. All she wanted to do was watch him eat with the silence of the stream rushing by.

"Thank you Claire, this is amazing." Trent said after washing down the last of the bread with milk.

"You're welcome Trent," she blushed and smiled.

He patted the space next to him, signaling her to sit with him. Claire stood from her stump and smoothed the ground to sit on it.

"So you collect herbs on Wednesdays?"

"Yes, usually earlier in the morning, that's why I'm there when you visit me. I slept in late today, darn snooze button." He said laughing.

"Sure is peaceful." She said pointing to the lake, "May told me a Kappa lives there though."

"Hmm, maybe he does."

"What's that cave doing there?"

"You've only been with us since the beginning of summer haven't you?" Trent asked, turning to Claire.

"Yes," Claire looked up at Trent confused.

"In winter, the lake freezes and once it becomes sturdy enough, you can walk on the ice all the way to the cave."

"What's inside?"

"Nobody really knows. The town believes the ice isn't strong enough."

"So you haven't gone in either?"

"No, I'd love to find out what's on the inside though."

"What a chicken. I say once the lake freezes, you have to go across." Claire teased.

"I'm not afraid, what will happen if the rumors are true? What if I fall and no one knows?"

"Oh come on, you're strong enough swim out aren't you?" she nudged his side.

"Haha, alright. When winter comes, we'll be the first ones to know what's inside the cave."

"Yeah?" Claire said excited.

"I promise," Trent said holding out his pinky.

"Deal," she curled her pinky around his and the promise was sealed.

Both laughed and Claire felt safe with only him by her side. His pinky was larger than hers and wrapped around her own, she felt protected. She leaned on his shoulder and watched the fish swim happily in the lake. She began to hear a hum and looked up at Trent. He was humming gently, looking forward. She listened to him hum and looked ahead as well. They sat peacefully together. Slowly, Claire's eyes began to get heavier and she fell asleep in Trent's lap. He took off his sweater and placed it under her head as a pillow.

He stroked her hair gently and looked at her breathe in and out peacefully. She truly was beautiful. Her hair glistened in the sun like thin strands of gold. Even with her eyes closed, her eyelashes were beautiful and clear of any make-up. He leaned down, brushed part of her hair aside and kissed her on her forehead. He knew he had fallen in love with her; it was only a matter of time before his feelings slipped out. But what if she didn't like him back? She was younger and had many young men to choose from, all respectful and very handsome. He had no chance, he could only enjoy the few moments he could spend with her, even as friends.

Claire woke up just in time to see the sun set and both Trent and her looked in awe as the sun bid its farewell to the sky and hid beneath the mountains. Claire picked up her basket and Trent retrieved his herbs and they walked back together. Trent accompanied Claire up to the entrance of her farm and went his way around Gotz's house and out the street between the Yodel Farm and the Poultry Farm. It had been a truly, amazing evening.

Thank you to everyone for reading this. Again, I apologize for not updating it as soon as you would like me to, I've been caught up with school, but don't worry! I have fresh ideas and I have two whole weeks to share them with you so please hang tight and thanks for supporting me! Reviews would help! Motivation! (:


	12. Moonlight Festival

Thanks for the reviews guys (: I won't blabber on so here you go! Enjoy (:

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Zack picked up the shipment from Claire's farm and was about to leave when he saw Claire waving to him from the entrance leading to the forest. She ran up to him and offered to help him carry the shipment, she seemed so happy.

Claire had just returned from picking up some bamboo shoots and was glad that she had found Zack. She was afraid she'd miss him and have to wait for the shipment the next day.

"Thanks Claire," Zack blushed

"Yeah no problem, we haven't talked in a while, sorry I've been so busy!" Claire said almost shouting.

They walked out of her farm and as they turned right, in front of the blacksmith, Gray had stepped out to help too. Rick had seen this and took another box from Zack. The four of them walked into the town square and saw the Mayor putting up a poster. Claire called out to the Mayor and he waved for them to go over to him.

"What is it Thomas?" Claire puffed, putting the box down.

"Well see for yourself Claire."

"15th annual Moonlight Festival? What's that?" Claire asked confused.

"It's a dance the town holds every fall. Our only formal event the whole year." Gray answered.

"Can anyone go, or…" Claire stood silently looking down at her shoes.

"Or?" The Mayor repeated.

"Or do we need a date?" Claire blushed

"Oh no, it's for the whole town, those who are couples just have all the more fun."

"Well, let's go and drop these off." Claire said picking up the box again and heading in front of the three men.

"So Gray," Zack said once out of earshot from Claire. "you gonna ask Claire to the Moonlight Festival?"

Rick's eyes widened and he turned his head to the older boy.

"What?" Gray said surprised. "Why would I? She's just my friend." He said annoyed and ran to Claire.

"Why, why do you think _he'd_ ask Claire?" Rick said shyly.

"They just seem to be very good friends." Zack said sadly as he saw Gray and Claire push each other playfully and laugh.

Rick sighed and watched the same scene.

They arrived at Zack's boat and placed the boxes in the cargo area and said bye to each other. Zack stayed at his house, Rick went back home and Gray left to the Inn. Claire was alone now and wondering if she would go to the Clinic. She didn't have an excuse and Elli would be asking if she felt bad. She decided to go home and think about it more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

On the 12th, lying in his bed, Trent closed his eyes without falling asleep. He'd remembered the mayor coming in and reminding them about the Moonlight Festival. They'd always had one every single fall he'd been there. He had never participated in it; he didn't even want to go. Now he was feeling very different though. He couldn't help thinking of asking Claire to go with him. But how would the town folk react? Just as he was floating away in his thoughts, he heard Elli's voice from the bottom floor of the clinic.

"Doctor, there's a phone call for you, please answer it quickly!"

Trent walked down the steps and went to his office.

"Hello?" he said still sleepy.

"Doctor Trent?" the voice came from the phone.

"Yes, who is this?"

"This is CureShip, we package and send the medicines you order to your clinic."

"Yes?"

"Yes, Doctor Trent. I'm afraid the special Turbojults that you order cannot be packaged to you at this moment."

"What? Why?" Trent sat up in his chair now. The special Turbojults were for Lillia, she needed them constantly to keep up with her illness.

"There's been a problem with the tracking number and the medicine is expected to arrive with next month's order."

"No!" Trent slammed his fist on the desk creating a dent in the metal surface. "Those are very important medicines. If I can't have them here my patient can be in very serious trouble."

"I'm sorry sir but there's nothing we can do about it. You can order a similar drug and we can have it shipped along with your order right away."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`.

Claire got up bright and early and put on her white overalls and pink undershirt on. She took more time brushing her hair this morning and looked in the mirror several times. It was the 12th of fall and the festival was held on the 15th. She had three days to ask someone to accompany her to the dance. Happily skipping no, running she made her way across the town and to the clinic.

She slowly opened the door and immediately heard Trent's voice yelling from the room next door. She walked up to Elli.

"What's going on?" Claire asked.

"There's been some trouble with the medicine order." Elli explained. She was about to tell Claire not to bother Trent, but she had already slipped through the curtains.

"Trent?" Claire stepped to the front of his desk. His hair was messed up and his collar unbuttoned. His sleeves were pushed up to his elbows and he seemed very frustrated.

"Excuse me for a moment." He said into the phone. "Claire, I'm really busy right now, how can I help you?"

"Well, I uh.. I wanted to ask you something."

"No not the Turbojult XL, that's a different one! We have enough of those!" he yelled into the phone and startled Claire.

"I uhm…" she said frightened.

"No, you're not listening to me!" he yelled to phone again. "Claire, I'm busy right now can you please come back later? I can't talk to you right now, this is far more important than whatever you have wrong with you. Please, if you need another checkup sit in the waiting room."

"Trent I just wanted to ask you if–"

"Claire! Can't you see I'm trying to fix something? Please! Come back later, I can't play with you right now!" he yelled to her face. "Get out of my office and leave me alone!"

Claire's heart sunk. Her face drained of blood and she felt sick. Her eyes began to water and she stood trembling. She clenched her fists tightly and ran out of the office. Claire pushed the door wide open and ran out of the clinic. Tears streamed down her face. She passed the General store and Rick tried asking what was wrong but she just sped past him. Her heart pounded in her chest and the tears streamed down her face. She reached her farm and threw open her front door. Claire threw herself at her bed and cried into her pillow.

"Yes that's fine, bring over a small case of that." Trent put down the phone and clicked the off button. He dug his face into his hands. "What have I done?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

There was a knock at the door and Claire got up, wiped her tears and walked to the door. When she opened it, Gray was standing in front of her.

"Hey, Claire I saw you running to you're house. Is everything alright?"

Claire could only begin to cry again and signaled Gray to come in. He closed the door behind him and walked up to Claire.

"What's wrong?" He said holding her shoulder.

She couldn't say anything, she tried but nothing came out. She just turned around to face him and clung to his back. She hugged him tight hoping he wouldn't let go of her. He encased her in his arms and finally pushed her hair back.

"Come on Claire, will you tell me?" he pleaded.

"Gray, I don't want to talk about it. Please."

"Okay, I respect that. But come on, lets see if we can find something to do that'll make you feel better." He said taking her hand.

"Well I still have to brush Cyclone."

"Who?" Gray asked bewildered.

"My horse."

Claire led Gray to the stable, wiping her tears on her sleeve. She opened the door to the first stable and out trotted a full grown horse. It eyed the stranger next to his owner cautiously. Claire took out her brush and petted the giant animal calmly.

"There there Cyclone, he's my friend." She brushed the creature gently and lovingly. Normally she would get lost in thought when she brushed her animals but today she handed the brush to Gray and showed him how to brush Cyclone.

"In smooth motions, don't brush him too hard." She explained.

"This is pretty calming." Gray commented.

"Isn't it?" Claire looked at her horse and seemed lost in her thoughts.

After several gentle strokes, Gray put the brush down and cleared his throat. Claire snapped out of her funk and looked at Gray.

"Uhm Claire, I was wondering if you were going to go to the Moonlight Festival?"

Her eyes began to water again but she did her best to hold them in. "I'm not sure."

"Do you want to go with us?" he offered

"Us?"

"Marry and I are going together this year and I was wondering if you wanted to come along?"

"Marry? Oh my gosh, I knew it! I knew you had a thing for her. High five!" Claire stuck her hand out and Gray high fived it laughing.

"Yeah. Oh hey, she wanted me to ask you why you were glaring at her when Jack was flirting with her?"

"Damn Jack, I was glaring at her because I knew you liked her. And she sure likes you, so I didn't want him getting in the way when he was just staying for a while. He's kind of like Kai, only with more charm." She said smiling proudly.

"Hahah, that explains it! Wait, you think she likes me?" he said blushing.

"Oh I _know_." Claire winked.

"How?"

"Intuition." She smiled slyly.

"You sure are something," he said taking off his hat and placing it on Claire's head.

"Hey Gray? What's up with you're hat, you said it was special but I don't get why."

"Well," he said sitting on a bunch of hay, "it's a long story."

"I have time," Claire put Cyclone back in his pen and sat down in front of Gray. "Besides, I need to get my mind off of stuff."

"Alright. So you've seen my grandpa right? Well basically, Claire, he's the only family I've got. Both my parents are dead, my mom died of a heart disease and dad got hit by a truck."

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry Gray."

"Yeah well, we lived in the city so once they were dead I was forced to live with good ol' grandpa."

"And the hat?" Claire had never wondered Gray was alone like her.

"Well on my ninth birthday, my parents got me this hat. It's really the only thing I got left of them, that's why it's so special. But I had no reason to yell at you, I just freaked out when I couldn't find it and well seeing you with it on and so close to the water I was just afraid it could get damaged."

"No, I'm sorry I shouldn't have gotten it without your permission. I understand why it's so important to you."

"No you don't. People say they do but how can you know without having something happen to you?"

Claire unlatched her necklace and handed it to Gray. He looked at her strangely.

"Open it." she whispered.

"Is this the one Kai stole from you?" he opened it and for the first time saw the other two pictures he had missed when removing Kai's picture.

"That's my mama and my papa. They died in a train accident. I got this when I turned eight, it's also the only thing I have from my parents. Other than my brother of course." she laughed.

Speechless, Gray handed back the necklace and took his hat back. He ruffled Claire's hair and smiled.

"Guess that's another reason to be best friends."

"Guess so."

They lay down on the soft hay and listened to wind. Gray had fallen into a light sleep but Claire could not keep her mind off of what Trent had said to her.

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~.**

"Claire! Can't you see I'm trying to fix something? Please! Come back later, I can't play with you right now!"

"I can't talk to you right now, this is far more important than whatever you have wrong with you."

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~.**

_Play with me? Is that what I am to him? A simple child who annoys him? I understand that his work is important to him, but nothing I had to say was just as important? Why did you yell at me? Why?_

Claire silently cried, glancing in Gray's direction, making sure she didn't wake him.

"_Get out of my office and leave me alone!"_

"_Leave me alone!"_

"_Alone!"_

"Alone," she whispered and cried herself to sleep.

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DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING. Everything goes to their respectful owners. All I own is the story line and the idea of CureShip.

Reviews?


	13. You Came

I can't thank everyone enough for all the reviews. Honestly, they really inspire me to write more. Thanks to that one special person who reviewed every single chapter! :D thank you very much. Once again, I want to remind you guys to please check out my DeviantArt profile. I'm going to post some drawings for other chapters but a lot for this one. I've already even posted one already (: please check it out~! the link is on my fanfiction profile

Without further ado: enjoy kiddies ;D

PS: if u guys have forgotten: **~*~*~*~*~.** means flashback and **~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.** means either a different scene or time has passed.

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After declining Gray's offer, Claire walked Gray to the Inn and walked back home. She fell asleep after finally crying her eyes out for the day. For the next three days, she didn't go to the Inn, she didn't go to Popuri's house to gossip about anything. And she most certainly did not go to the clinic. Claire went to Kai's snack shack and to the Yodel Farm to find out more about the horse race. Other than that, nothing exciting had happened for a while.

Claire sat on her couch in front of the TV, remote control in hand. She flipped through some channels and stopped at the news channel.

"Today is Fall 15th, eight in the morning, with slight chances of precipitation later on in the evening." the sound from the TV was drowned out by the knocking at her door. She got up and answered the door.

"Hey Claire, last chance, you wanna go with me and Mary to the Moonlight Festival?" Gray stood at her doorstep.

"I don't think I'll go Gray, thank you anyways." She said reluctantly.

"What's wrong Claire? You haven't even gone outside."

"Yes I have! I've gone to Kai's and to the Yodel Farm, what else do you need?" she said a little more than annoyed. She didn't mean to be, but she was touchy when it came to what had happened with Trent. She didn't want to cry about it. She hadn't even seen him ever since.

"Well okay. Sorry you won't be able to make it this year. Maybe next year?"

"We'll see. Thanks again Gray." she hugged him and then sent him on his way.

Claire dug through her closet and found the dress her brother had sent her. It was long and beautiful, needless to say. The fabric soft and silky and it was her favorite color; pink. It was the dress she had intended to wear that day. In a sudden impulse, Claire hopped into the shower, she was going to the Moonlight Festival and no one could change her mind. She came back out and began to prepare herself for her first Moonlight Festival.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.**

"Doctor, you sure you don't want to go?" Elli asked him for what seemed like the hundredth time that day.

"Thank you Elli, I'm sure." he said calmly.

"Alright then, I'm going now."

"Thank you for your help Elli, tell your grandmother I'll come by to see her next weekend."

"Will do Doctor!"

Trent sat at his desk wondering. It had been three days since he'd said those horrible words to Claire. He regretted ever having put her in such a position. He was frustrated but he knew that was no excuse for what he had done. All he wanted was to apologize to her and hope that things would get better from there. What had Claire wanted that day? He remembered what Elli had told him once Claire had shot out of the clinic.

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*.**

"Doctor, I don't mean to pribe, and I'm not here to tell you right from wrong. It just seems like Claire really wanted to ask you something."

"Yes I know she wanted to ask me something, unfortunately I don't know what."

"When Claire came in, she came up to my desk to ask what was wrong when you were yelling into the phone. I couldn't help but notice her attention wasn't on me and rather the poster on my desk, the one about the Moonlight Festival. She kept glancing over at it, her fists were tight and she seemed nervous. Now, if you ask me, Claire may have wanted to ask you to the Moonlight Festival."

"What?" Trent gawked at Elli wide-eyed.

"I'll be leaving now." Elli walked out of the clinic and left Trent, heart pounding in his chest with guilt and remorse.

If what Elli said was true, he had done a horrible thing. Not only did he yell at Claire and cause her to cry but he had wrecked his only chance at going with her to the Moonlight Festival. He ran upstairs and checked his alarm clock. 3:30, there was still time. He ran to his closet and pulled out the only suit he owned. He threw it on his bed and walked to the bathroom. Towel in hand, he knew he had at least half an hour to shower. The dance started at 5:00 pm and he wanted to make sure to have enough time to collect some flowers for Claire.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.**

Claire put on the last of her lipstick, very subtle. She wasn't much of a girly girl. Closing shut her compact mirror, she sighed. _I am going to have fun tonight, aren't I?_ She got up and walked to her bed, seeing the beautiful dress spread out she began to have second thoughts. She hated having to think things through, so she cleared her mind and continued to dress up.

She zipped up her dress, slipped on the gloves and took the last curlers out of her hair. After putting on her heels, she grabbed her purse and walked to the phone. Dialing a phone number, she sat and waited while the tones rang in her ear.

"Hello?" It was Ann. There was no need to say it was the Inn, it was a small town and very few people called.

"Hey Ann, it's Claire. Is Gray there?"

"Yeah he is, let me call him down. One moment please."

"Okay." the other line was silent and she sighed. Someone picked up the phone.

"Claire?" it was Gray's voice. He sounded much different. His voice sounded deeper.

"Gray, I was wondering if I could still take you up on your offer." she said smiling.

"You want to go?" he said fumbling with his tie.

"Yeah, do you think you could pick me up?"

"Of course, let me just pick up Marry first and we'll walk over to you okay?"

"No problem, thanks Gray."

"I'm just glad you're coming. I'll see you then." he hung up the phone.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.**

Trent looked in the mirror and adjusted his tie. He tucked it underneath his jacket and stepped back. He ruffled his hair with his fingers and smoothed out his jacket one last time. Running down the steps he saw something on the front desk out of the corner of his eye. It was a neatly folded handkerchief with a note attached. It was written in Elli's handwriting.

_In case you change your mind about going to the Festival._

Smiling, he placed the handkerchief that matched very well with his suit in his jacket pocket and walked outside. Passing to the market he bought a bouquet of flowers and looked at his watch. 4:45. Making his way to Claire's farm he wiped the sweat off his brow.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.**

"Hey Gray, Marry you look amazing!" she looked Marry up and down, she had to admit, Marry knew how to dress up nicely.

"Thanks Claire, you do too. I'm so glad you're coming with us."

"Don't worry about me sticking around with you two love birds. I just don't want to walk over there alone. Once we get there I promise I'll leave you two by yourselves."

"Don't worry Claire you can stay with us." Marry reassured her but Claire wouldn't take no for an answer.

Before she exited the house, Claire put a note for Zack, she hadn't known Zack didn't work on holidays so she left the note in case he came for the shipment and she wasn't there.

They arrived at the festival and Claire left Mary and Gray on their own. The day was becoming very cloudy. Nothing was going to stop the Mayor from holding an event though; he assured everyone that nothing would happen.

Popuri and Kai were there, Ann was standing by Cliff who kept staring in Gray's direction, and Rick was standing on his own in the corner. She saw Zack all dressed up as well and waved to him. The mayor was there and all the established adult couples were there too, away from their children of course. Because of her illness, Lillia couldn't come but Popuri had promised to take lots of pictures. Even the church man -as Claire referred to him- Carter, was present. It seemed to be like an important event for the whole town.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.**

Trent arrived at Claire's farm five minutes after they had left and noticed the note. _Zack, went to Moonlight Festival by myself. - Claire._

"By herself?"

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.**

Music was playing and Claire stood on her own in a corner. She watched Popuri and Kai dance. Even though Kai was such a ladies man, he seemed like he really liked Popuri. Popuri had the largest grin on her face, yet she still looked very graceful. Her dress was wine red and it had a cut on the side of her leg, it was sexy but not slutty. Her hair was down, curled over her shoulder and her makeup was like a movie star's. Claire was even surprised at the heels Popuri was wearing; she could never pull them off like Popuri. Kai was actually very handsome without his regular clothing. His suit was dark purple and he matched his date very well. Even his hair was combed back very nicely; you wouldn't even have known he was such a player.

Ann had finally asked Cliff to dance with her and he had agreed. Even though Claire knew something was wrong with that boy, she did think he was very cute. He wore a dark brown suit and his hair was down, it draped over his shoulders and it actually looked nice. Ann also let her hair down and straightened it. She wore an orange dress with a blue ribbon on the front.

Suddenly, next to her stood Zack. He took her hand and asked her to dance with him. With a tiny blush, she agreed and they walked towards the middle of the square. Zack placed his hand behind her back and she put her hand on his shoulder. As they danced the first song, Claire noticed Zack's silky black tux and for the first time, his arms. Sure, he never had his arms covered but he looked very handsome all dressed up. The song ended and she thanked him for the dance. Rick came up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder.

"May I have the next dance?" he asked her extending his hand out to her.

"Very well then." she said as formally as she could.

Taking his hand they began the next dance. With Rick she stood closer to him and admired his blue suit. The wind had gotten colder now and she was glad he was so close to her, she had some warmth. He had taken off the awful headband he wore and his hair actually looked mighty handsome. She smiled seeing Rick beam and blush throughout the entire song. She hugged him goodbye and he returned to his bench where his sister and Kai soon joined him, by that time his smile had disappeared. Claire giggled and sent a sympathetic smile when Rick mouthed "help me".

Kai got up from the bench and walked over to Claire.

"Hey baby, wanna show the townsfolk how city kids dance?" he winked at her and took her by her waist and her hand.

"As much as I would love to see how you dance Kai, I have to say no. But you look very nice tonight." she kept in step with him as he leaded her across the dance floor.

"You as well," he smiled sincerely for the first time. No smirk, no goofing around just a nice clear smile.

The violins died down and Claire performed a curtsy while Kai bowed and parted from each other.

"Hello Claire," Gray had swooped in and taken Claire's hand.

"Hey, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be with Mary?" she smiled as they took their position, Claire was close to him. Even closer than she had been with Kai, she wrapped her head around his neck and he put his hand on her waist.

"Well if you look, Kai's got her pretty entranced over there," he nodded to Mary's direction.

"Don't worry, Kai wouldn't do anything like that."

"Nawh, Kai's a great kid." Gray smiled

There were a few moments of silence while they got really into the dance. Claire closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of him. A gush of wind rolled in the clouds and she clung to him for warmth. He pulled her closer.

"You look really beautiful tonight Claire."

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.**

Trent pulled the note off the door and read it once more.

"By herself?" he repeated.

He threw it to the floor and ran out of Claire's farm. He turned the corner at Aja's winery and ran towards the entrance of the Town Square.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.**

"Thanks," Claire leaned back to face Gray and her face reddened. A drop of water fell on her cheek and at first she thought she had begun to cry but as she looked around, everyone started looking upward. No one had noticed the clouds roll in. Right and left, people started running toward shelter with jackets and sweaters over their heads. Thomas had set up a large tent in case the rain had started and they were all headed that way.

Gray released his hold on Claire and he stood looking at her.

Claire heard something drop on the ground and she looked over to the entrance to the square. A flash of lightening bolted across the sky. Her eyes widened.

Trent stood in the entrance. The flowers had slipped out of his fingers and dropped to the ground with a wet plop. His eyes were wide. What he saw in front of him horrified him. Claire was in Gray's arms, smiling and happy. All he could bring to Claire was pain and sorrow, how could he not see this before? Claire turned around and saw him, their eyes met. He saw her eyes widen and they both stared at each other. Trent looked terrified and pain was clear inside of his eyes.

"You came," Claire whispered under her breath. Tears welled up in her eyes and a few of them dripped down her cheek.

"What?" Gray asked her. She turned to look at him.

Trent turned and ran out of the square. Claire let go of Gray, grabbed her dress and began to run after him.

"Trent wait!"

"Claire?" Gray yelled out, he was getting soaked. He watched Claire with her bunched up dress run after the doctor.

She looked back at Gray, his hand stretched out after she had let go of him and he had pulled to catch her once more. She hated leaving him there by himself but she had to catch up with Trent. Her heart pounded in chest.

Trent looked back and saw Claire running after him. He could barely see in front of him with the thick rain. His white suit soaked and his hair all wet but he kept running.

"Trent!" she slipped on the wet ground. She stood up once more and kept running after him; she wasn't going to let anything stop her from getting to him.

He got to the clinic and opened the door, slamming it behind him. Claire ran up to the door and pounded her tiny fists against it. Crying out loud she tried calling out to him between sobs.

"Trent! Please open the door!" her hair was a mess and her dress soaked and dirty. Tears rolled down her face at a rapid speed. "Trent please," she cried "Trent!" she yelled to the sky. The roaring sound of the rain and thunder drowned out her tiny voice.

Inside, Trent heard the piercing screams. He wanted to open the door and help her in, take her in his arms and never let go of her. He wanted to hold her and tell her that he loved her with all his heart. To stroke her hair and make her feel warm and protected. But it was too much for him, his emotions and mind had shut down. All he knew was that he wanted himself to not get hurt. He was scared, scared of loving Claire too much and not having her love him back. He dug his face in his hands and slipped to the floor against the door.

"Trent!" she yelled once more and placed her forehead to the door, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Trent, leaning against the door had his face dug into his hands. His heart hurt and pounded in his chest. He loved her so much and yet he had left her outside in the rain, knowing she could get sick.

"Claire," tears silently rolled down his cheeks. He cried into his hands all night long.

Claire, outside the door cried for the whole night as well. And due to the wind and rain, she was slapped by the horrible winds all night. With the last bit of strength she still had, she walked home and collapsed on her bed.

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Thanks for reading! Please review :D

More to come don't worry!

Once again: check out my fanfiction profile for the link to deviantart (:


	14. Concussions, Confessions

Hey guys! I want to apologize for taking so long to write it. I've had so much drama and homework and blah blah blah, let's face it; you don't want to hear about it. I have to say this may be one of my favorite chapters. Hope you guys like it as much as I do.

**DISCLAIMOR: **I do not own Harvest Moon. Everything goes to their respectful owners. All I own is the storyline and my handsanitizer :)

Oh! Hey check out my deviantart :D

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She was asleep for the rest of the day. Gray and Kai came to knock on her door twice but she was asleep and didn't hear them. They figured that she had gone somewhere to rest, like the hot springs. When she woke up she checked her temperature and sure enough, she was sick. With the little strength she still had she got up and made herself a hot tea and crawled back into bed. The next day she felt somewhat better and the Mayor came to knock at her door.

As Claire made her way to the door she glanced at the calendar. Fall 17th, the horse race was tomorrow! She ran faster to the door and greeted the Mayor.

"Hello Claire, I came to tell you that we have our Fall horse race tomorrow. Will you be participating with Cyclone this year?"

"Yes!"

"Very well then, I'll take Cyclone with me and we'll see you there tomorrow!"

"Thanks Thomas!" she waved at Cyclone as he snorted when the Mayor pulled him out of the farm. Gray came in at the same time the Mayor was exiting.

"Hey Cyclone, you ready for tomorrow?" he asked softly petting Cyclone's nose. The horse whinnied happily. "Claire!"

"Hey Gray,"

"Claire, where you been? You ran after the doc, did you have something important to tell him or what?"

"Sorry I left you like that. Uh yeah something really important, I'd rather not go into detail."

"Well I see you're up and out."

"Not really, I just went to go see Cyclone out. I'm going back to bed."

"If you don't feel good you shouldn't race tomorrow."

"If I go back to bed now I'll be fine in the morning so if you'll excuse me," she tried closing the door on Gray but he put his hand between the door.

"Hold on Claire, you sure you're okay? Ever since that one day after you, Zack, Rick and I helped with the shipment you seemed kind of... weird."

"There's just lot of things on my mind."

"You're not thinking of leaving the farm are you?"

"I don't know Gray." she shut the door silently. Gray stood outside for a moment, he was going to knock on the door again but it was no use. Claire could talk to him when she felt like it.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.**

The next morning she woke up and brushed her hair. Walking to her closet she picked out her white overalls, they were the color she always wore to competitions; they gave her a sense of hope and professionalism.

Putting her shoes on she walked outside, her nose was still a little stuffy but she had done good by not going outside those couple of days. She walked to the Town Square and greeted everyone.

"Hi Claire, do great today! I'm sure you'll win." Rick shook her hand.

"Claire! Don't fall off, be careful!" Mary warned.

"At a girl Claire, show 'em whose boss!" Popuri cheered.

"Claire, you go kick everyone's ass!" Gray patted her on the back.

"I'm betting my money on you dollface, you better win." Kai said ruffling her hair. He leaned into her ear to whisper something. "If you win, I can promise you a whole night with me, but I might be keeping you up if you know what I mean."

Gray pulled Kai by the collar. "Leave her alone retard."

Claire looked at him confused then smiled and said, "Okay." Then she walked on to the track.

"Alright Claire, you saw the track, all you have to do is steer your horse around the track, the first one to cross the finish line wins." the old man from the Yodel Farm explained. Claire had no idea how he knew her name but figured it was from the participants' sheet.

"Any bets? Would anyone like to place any bets? The race is about to begin." Claire looked over at the line of people paying their bets on each horse. She wasn't nervous at first but now she wasn't so sure, fear began to well up in her once more and her heart pounded in her chest. She had practiced for this, she could do it. The racers mounted their horses and Claire walked up to hers. Nothing could distract her today, nothing. She put her foot on one sling and threw her other across the creature and sat down. She petted her horse's neck.

"We can do this Cyclone, we can win!" she grabbed the rope and Cyclone got into position.

"Ready riders?" the Mayor stood on the side, a fake gun in his hand. "Set, GO!" He pulled the trigger and a loud BANG ran in the air. The riders took off and Claire was galloping at high speed. She took a quick glance at everyone, they all cheered. Her friends stood on the sidelines just ahead of her at the first turn, they all chanted her name. "CLAIRE! CLAIRE!"

Smiling, she glanced at the entrance of the Square. Just running into the square with his white coat trailing behind him was Trent. He stopped in his tracks and looked at Claire. Her eyes widened and she felt dizzy. So many things were rushing to her head. Letting go of the rope with one hand she grabbed her forehead. Her vision blurred, the horses rounded the first turn. Too weak to hang on, the rope slipped out of Claire's hand. Her heart stopped for a second and she felt herself falling off Cyclone. At the speed the horse was galloping, she flew right off.

Everyone in the audience gasped. She fell on the ground with a thud and rolled across the square, passing out.

"Claire!" her friends started running towards her but a flash of white sped past them.

Trent bolted to her side. He knelt beside her and brought her up in his arms. Turning her head to face him, she had blacked out. Her forehead was covered in crimson, streaming down her face. Her white clothes were stained and dirty. He picked her up and turned to everyone who were now staring at the two of them.

They all looked worried. Cyclone had stopped in his tracks but the rest of the riders had kept galloping away. Popuri, Ann, Mary, Rick, Gray, Kai, and Zack stepped forward to look at her. Popuri gasped and Ann hid her face in Gray's chest crying. Kai and Gray held their tears in, Mary covered her mouth with her hand and Zack couldn't help but step forward and get a better look at her. Rick held his sister's hand tight as Trent walked past them all. All of them followed except Zack who stayed behind so no one would wonder why an older man was lurking behind the injured teen.

Trent kicked the door open to the clinic and Elli jumped.

"Oh!" she spun around and dropped some papers she was filing. Trent made a beeline to the checkup room and put Claire down on the bed without a sound.

"Let me help you with that." Kai said walking over to Elli's side and helping her pick up the papers.

"I appreciate the help but shouldn't you be with Claire right now, instead of flirting with me you should be with your friend." Elli whispered

"Don't belittle me, I'm being a gentleman by helping you with the papers but the only girl I care about right now is my friend Claire. Don't think so much of yourself," he said standing up and handing her the last paper. "It's disgraceful."

He walked over to the waiting area and left Elli wide mouthed.

"So what's going on right now?" Ann finally asked

"I don't know." Gray responded.

"Do you think she'll be alright?" Rick asked worried

"I sure hope so." Popuri said, her voice shaking.

"Clam down guys, Claire's a strong girl," Mary added holding Gray's arm.

"This kind of reminds me of the Goddess Tale my mom used to tell me all the time." Ann said quietly.

"What tale?" Mary asked.

"Well, a long time ago, when this island was just beginning to flourish there was a young girl. She was beautiful; she worked on a farm that had just been built. One day, she met a man and she fell in love with him and he fell in love with her. Everything was going good; they would meet each other every day. But one day while they were on the peak of Mother's Hill she slipped on a rock and fell. She completely blacked out, he picked her up and ran all the way to the clinic. When the doctor came out of the room and told him she was dying, he ran to her side. He prayed to the Goddess to bring her back. Nothing the doctor did was working. As she was about to die, he leaned down and kissed her. Seconds after the kiss, she woke up. His undying love for her brought her back, he loved her so much. It was a story that proved true love was powerful."

"That's just another sappy love story Ann," Gray laughed.

"But I didn't tell you the most important part," Ann said and the room got quiet, "she didn't know he loved her back. And he never told her he did, he didn't know whether she loved him or not."

"It's too much magic to be true!" Popuri exclamed.

"Magic…" Ann whispered.

Trent rushed to his desk; bottles of disinfectants, other liquids and bandages clanged together in his arms. Elli came in to assist him and they disappeared into the room. He took a wet cloth and wiped the blood off her forehead. He found the wound and blood was still streaming out but it was slowing down now. He dampened another cloth with disinfectants and padded the injury. He rolled a thick layer of bandage around her head over the wound. It wasn't too deep or big but the fall had knocked her out.

As he was doing this, Elli connected Claire to the IV and other big machinery that displayed her heart rate and other important data that only the doctor knew. She clicked in last tube and the machine started beeping with Claire's heartbeat.

-Beep-

-Beep-

-Beep-

"Stay with me Claire," Trent whispered.

Elli signaled the group in. Almost in single file the six of them rushed to the room where their friend was. Mary stepped out after coming in; she couldn't take the sight but told everyone she was going to call Jack instead. "He is her brother, he should know," was all she could say as she reached for the front door to walk to the Inn and use their telephone.

Just as Mary was stepping out, the Mayor came in. Worried, he walked into the room and at the sight of the bandaged and bloody young farmer he exclaimed, "Oh Goddess!"

"How is she Doctor?" he asked the frightened twenty-three year old.

"It doesn't look good sir. I've bandaged her wound but it won't stop bleeding. She fell hard and at this rate it's a miracle she's breathing-"

"Just barely, her heart rate's going down," Elli cut in. They all turned their heads to the monitor.

-Beep-

-Beeep-

Trent looked at Claire and noticed, "She stopped breathing!"

"What?" Rick yelled.

"Claire!" Kai and Ann gasped at the same time.

"Come on Claire don't you dare fail on us now!" Gray said, his voice trailing and shaking.

"Claire stay with us," Popuri said scared.

"Doctor do something!" Elli screamed.

"I'm trying, nothing's working!"

"Wait, what about the Goddess Myth?" Mayor Thomas offered.

"You know about it too Mayor?" Popuri wondered.

"But who should kiss her?" Ann asked.

Everyone including the Mayor looked at Gray.

"What? Me?" Gray blushed. Trent's eyes widened.

-Beeeep-

"Her heart rates getting slower!" Elli yelled.

"Everyone out of the room! I have to do something!" Trent yelled. Elli pushed everyone into the waiting room and came back in. The doctor was leaning over the bed, his hand on his forehead.

"Elli, what's the Goddess Myth?"

"It's a tale about true love. The man a girl is in love with kisses her and she lives."

"That's ridiculous! Why should it even be Gray who kisses her?"

"I don't know doctor, Gray does seem very fond of her and her of him. The kids think it's too much magic though."

"Leave Elli, let me see what I can do."

"Doctor there's not much you ca-"

"OUT!" he yelled at her. The twenty-one year old ran out of the room frightened. He pulled the chair to him and sat down.

Claire lay on the bed, unconscious and just barely breathing. He looked at her lovingly and his eyes began to water. Her golden hair spread out on the bed, her tiny arms at her side and her face, nearly lifeless.

"Kiss her? That's ridiculous." He took her hand and a tear streamed down his cheek.

-Beeep-

-Beeeep-

-Beeeeeeeeeeep-

"Claire! No, stay with me." His eyes streamed with tears. Memories flashed through his mind.

_You sure are clumsy._

"_I'll never leave you Trent!"_

_All you need is a little magic, Claire._

"Magic..." he whispered.

-Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep-

"No!" He stood up and knocked the chair to the floor. He held her hand tight. As he cried he kissed her hand softly, drops of tears fell on her hand as they flooded like faucets out of his eyes.

-GASP- Claire stood up suddenly. Only inches from her face, she stared into Trent's eyes. His eyes widened.

"Claire," he whispered surprised.

"Trent," She threw her arms around him and began to cry. He held her close and wrapped his arms around her. "Trent, I was so scared!" she cried.

"It's okay, it's okay," he stroked her head as she cried. Silently, he cried himself.

-Beep-

-Beep-

-Beep-

Her heart rate had returned to normal and Trent sat down as the door burst open. Her friends cheered and went up to her to hug her and make sure she was okay.

Claire was given time to rest and everyone went home to sleep. Elli left to check up on her grandmother.

"Trent," Claire appeared at the door of Trent's office.

"Claire! Are you sure you should be walking so soon?"

"I'm fine," she walked over to him and he stood up.

Everything was quiet and they shared a moment of silence. All he could do was smile lovingly at her.

"Trent," Claire finally spoke up, "why were you crying?"

"What?" He said shocked.

"When I woke up, I looked at you and there were tears running down your face."

Trent blushed and looked away.

"Trent," she reached to grab his hand.

Her fingers touched his and they both paused. He turned to look at her with a surprised expression on his face. She looked up at him equally surprised. He turned to face her again and took her hand. Blushing, they both placed their hand against the other's. Trent's fingers stretched over hers, his hand was larger than hers and hers were warmer. Slowly, their fingers intertwined. Claire looked up from her hand to Trent's face. She blushed and gave him a warm smile. He leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"I love you Claire."


	15. Runaway

Hey guys, first of all I want to apologize so much for not uploading this sooner :( I know some of you have probably wanted to hunt me down and force me to write it XD Anywho…. Here it is and I can truly say I enjoyed writing this chapter so much (: Chapter sixteen is soon to come and I'm not kidding this time, I'm working on it now that I have vacation. So my excuse for not writing this chapter faster was because of my homework. Love you all and hope you love this!

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Harvest Moon or any of its characters. They belong to their respectful owners. All I own is my lotion :D

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"Trent, I-" Trent touched her cheek and she lost control of her words.

He smiled at her and lifted her chin up slightly to face him. He leaned down, closed his eyes and kissed Claire. Her eyes widened then slowly closed. His lips were warm against hers. She felt warm, safe and protected. Her pain went away in an instant and her heart pounded against her chest violently. She felt her face get hot as she blushed.

Without thinking, she wrapped her arms around Trent's neck. He returned the gesture and put both hands on her face, making her cheeks even hotter than they were.

Many things went through Trent's mind before Claire had kissed him back. When she finally did, he relaxed and deepened his kiss. Fireworks were going off in both their heads and neither one heard the door of the clinic open.

"Hey, I put Gray to sleep, I don't know if Claire's still in here but if she is I came to walk her home," Kai pushed away the curtain to the doctor's office.

"Kai!" Claire gasped and removed her hands from behind Trent's neck.

"What are you doing here?" Trent asked, trying to sound strong and mature but his voice cracked in the middle of his sentence.

"What are you two doing?" Kai asked. His hands were tightly clenched on the blue curtains, his eyes wide and shock bursting in his head.

"Kai," Claire ran in front of him and took his hand, "don't tell anyone. Please, this _just_ happened. I'll explain later-"

"Claire, you don't have to tell him anything," Trent interrupted.

"That's a bit suspicious don't you think? It can lead me to assume you don't want her to tell me something you did to her." Kai said steamed.

"Calm down Kai." Claire turned to the doctor, "Trent, there's no harm in telling him," she smiled sweetly. Trent's heart skipped a beat.

"Claire, what was that? Why were you two kissing, and here of all places where people can walk right in?"

"Because-" Claire started but Trent finished her sentence.

"Kai, I love Claire. More than anything, I want to be with her. You're young; don't you understand how I feel?" Trent confessed.

Kai's chest relaxed and he let go of the curtain, leaving wrinkles in the aqua colored material. His eyes returned to their original size and he exhaled deeply.

"And you Claire?" Kai switched his glance towards Claire.

"I love him too, he's sweet and caring and perfect," she held onto Trent's hand and squeezed it tight. She blushed as their fingers intertwined.

"Alright already, if you love each other I guess there's nothing I can do about it. But please, stop before I barf!" Kai teased. "I guess you must not be such a bad guy after all."

"Not at all, he's amazing" Claire answered for Trent.

"You're not so bad yourself. Call me Trent from now on." Trent extended his free hand towards Kai.

"Alright Trent," Kai shook Trent's hand. "I'm still taking Claire home," he smiled.

"I'd be honored," Claire curtsied cutely and said goodbye to Trent.

She walked to the door with Kai. He noticed her turn around constantly and blush every time she did. Kai stopped at the door as he noticed this.

"Go hug him already," Kai said patting Claire's back.

She turned to Kai surprised then smiled. She ran and jumped in Trent's arms. He held her close to him and blushed without knowing it. Tip-toeing, Claire wrapped her arms around Trent's neck and kissed him quickly then returned to Kai's side. The doctor stood surprised at the unsuspected kiss and waved sheepishly at the blonde as she stepped out the door.

Inside, Trent stared at the door. He couldn't believe he finally had the girl of his dreams. Everything rushed to his head and finally clicked in place. He jumped up and pumped his fist in the air.

"Yes!" he yelled. He felt foolish but couldn't help feeling the rush of adrenaline. Immense love ran through his veins.

Kai opened the door to reach for his jacket on the coat rack. He stared at a childlike Trent shouting triumph as he punched the air. Both men's eyes locked and they burst out laughing. Kai took his coat and closed the door, leaving Trent chuckling at himself. He plopped down in his chair and smiled.

"I just want you to know I still don't trust him Claire," Kai said as they passed Mary's library.

"But you shook hands with him, I though that meant you were fine with him." Claire responded worried.

"Well yeah, but that doesn't mean I don't suspect anything bad from him. Claire," he stopped and put his hands on her shoulders. "How old is he?"

"I - I'm not sure," Claire looked away annoyed. "What does that matter anyway? Age is not a problem Kai, in the city-"

"I know what happens in the city. I come from the city Claire! But this town and the city are two very different places. In the city you go through your normal day and no one knows anything about you. People in Mineral Town are very connected. Everyone knows anything about everybody. The city will accept a ten or five year age difference, but not in this town!"

"How do you know?" Claire shook her shoulders out of Kai's grasp. Tears built up in her eyes.

"Because I just do!" he tried placing his hand back on her shoulder.

"Don't touch me! You're wrong, no one cares." she turned and walked away from him.

"Claire," he ran to her and stopped in front of her. "I'm telling you because I care about you. I don't want you to get hurt in anyway."

"He won't hurt me Kai," she protested.

"First, I have to tell if he's telling the truth. I need to see with my own eyes if he really loves you like he says he does."

"He does."

"I need to see that."

"Fine, but are you sure people don't accept it?"

"A few years ago," he said putting his arm around Claire's back and began walking again. "Manna's daughter, Aja, met a man that came to Mineral Town when I did. Gosh, he ran such a great business I couldn't compete with him. Anyway, Aja fell in love with him and paid a visit to Carter and asked him to marry them. Before Carter could answer, many of the townsfolk had already been criticizing them about their relationship. This was because the man was three years older than her. As a result, Aja skipped town with him to go somewhere they would be accepted."

"That's why I've never met Aja," Claire said amazed.

"Exactly," Kai answered nodding his head.

"Maybe it will be different, that was years ago right? People change, besides it's not a set law is it?"

"No. In Mineral Town though, people's opinions are the law most times."

"Did different people inhabit this place before I came?" Claire was searching for hope.

"A couple of people did. Most moved I guess, there used to be a bug catcher, a photographer and a fisherman. Of course, there were more but I guess you're right." Kai pondered the fact.

"Can I just go home? I'm tired and I've been through a lot today. I need rest and time to think."

"Sure, let's go."

The two seventeen year olds walked to Claire's farm. At her door, she said goodbye to Kai at the door and hugged him as thanks. He gave her a kiss on the forehead in return.

"You know Kai, you're not such a bad guy," She smiled.

"Shhh, you'll ruin my rep," he smirked and messed up her hair. "See you tomorrow blondie."

"Bye Kai, thanks again."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

As much as they both wanted to see the other, Trent and Claire had to take care of their duties at home. Being a doctor, Trent couldn't close the clinic just to go see his new girlfriend –wait… they weren't officially a couple yet, he hadn't asked. All the more reason to go see Claire later! Claire knew she had a farm to take care of. Chickens had to be fed, eggs needed to be collected and shipped, cows milked and brushed and Cyclone had to be brushed too, not to mention all the crops she had to water.

"I know Trent told me I have to take it easy with all these injuries but I have a farm to keep in shape, I can't hold back for a couple of bumps and bruises!" Claire assured herself as she clipped the overall strap into place.

She grabbed her watering can out of the tool box and headed over to the pond to fill up the can. As she began her day of work she walked slower than usual. Her headache was gone but the stitches still stung a little.

Meanwhile, Trent put on his coat and walked down the stairs into the clinic's waiting room. Elli was just walking in the door. She flashed him a smile and he waved back as serious as always. He had remembered Lillia's order would be arriving soon and he had to get the herbs ready to mix. CureShip had mixed up his order and sent a less powerful medicine free of charge. In order to make it more potent Trent had to make his own concoction to ease Lillia's pain.

"How is Claire doing?" Elli stood at the door of his office. Trent turned around from his shelf holding a bottle with blue grass mulch inside.

"Claire?" his heart skipped a beat and he felt his face tint a light shade of pink. "She's doing fine, she went home. I'm delivering some medicine for the stinging later today."

"I can deliver it to her once my shift is over if you'd like-"

"No!" Trent yelled out of no where. "Ahh, I mean. It's okay Elli, I don't want you to get tired I'll take it to her and tell her how to use it." He blushed red at his sudden and random burst.

"O-okay…" Elli backed away slowly. _Those fumes from mixing medicines have finally gone to his head!_

He sunk in his desk and slapped his forehead. He'd just made a complete fool of himself in front of the person that respected him the most.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

"Claire! I'll get the shipment!" Zack yelled, he hoped Claire was somewhere at the farm or else he'd feel foolish screaming at no one.

"Oh! Hold on," Claire's head popped out from behind the tree. She stepped of the stool and walked over to him. "I just got the honey from the beehive, will you still take it?" Claire handed him the pot of honey and wiped her forehead.

"Sure Miss Claire. Are you alright now?" He asked her remembering her terrible fall.

"Yes I'm feeling much better after the Doc and Elli bandaged me. Again, MISTER Zack, it's Claire." She picked up her watering can and walked towards her house.

"Alright. Going to bed?" He asked not looking up, he didn't want to show Claire his blushing face.

"Hmm? Nawh, just switching-" her voice was cut off when the door accidentally closed, "I'm just getting my milker and brush." She finished.

"Okay, say hi to Cream, Cheese, and Yogurt for me!" Zack waved. "How is little yogurt?"

"She's doing well, Cream and Cheese look after her all the time. She's really sweet."

Claire stepped into her barn and greeted the three cows. She began by filling their feeding bins with fodder she bought from the Yodel farm. Taking out the brush from her back pack, she walked up to Cheese and began brushing her gently, the cow mooed in delight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

"Thank you for your work today Elli, you are always a great help." Trent said monotonously.

"Thank you Doctor! Well I'll be going now. Please, get some rest and take it easy on your work!" she nearly ran out the door after grabbing her coat and hat.

Trent didn't understand why Elli was acting so strangely. He ignored it and took out the medicine bag for Claire. He took off his stethoscope and placed it on his desk. Loosening his tie and ruffling his hair he picked up the medicine and headed out the door.

Zack turned around as he heard foot steps coming into Claire's farm.

"Doctor? What are you doing here?" the shipping man asked him with a wondering look on his face.

"I've come to give Claire her medicine for the injuries," Trent tried his best to keep the blush off his face.

"She's in the barn milking her cows. I've got the shipment, say goodbye to her for me will you Doc?" the muscular man threw the box of goods on his shoulder and walked away.

"Yes, I will." Trent's eyes widened at the strength of the man in front of him. "Milk?" His mouth began to water. He opened the door to the barn and saw Claire, who hadn't heard the door open, sitting on a stool happily brushing a young cow. She laughed as the cow mooed happily.

"Alright, Cream now it's your turn to be milked!" The medium sized cow stepped in front of Claire and positioned itself for milking.

_Wow, she looks beautiful even when doing farm work. Her hair just sways and shines with every movement! She loves her animals so much I can just see it in the way she gently works with them. So calm, her smile is amazing._

"Cream, your milk has got to be the best milk in the world! I wonder if I should give some to people?" the cow seemed to moo in response. "Who would like some?" Claire sighed happily, "Do you think Trent would like some?"

"I sure would!"

Claire turned around startled and saw Trent leaning against the wall, arms crossed and smiling. "Trent!" she smiled and put the milker down.

"Stay seated, I'll go over." He stood up right and walked over to sit on the ground next to the blonde.

"What are you doing here?" she asked surprised.

"I brought you some medicine for the injuries."

"Oh, thank you! You want some milk?"

"I'd love some. Have you been working too hard?"

"No. It's a farm Doc, I can't take it easy."

"Trent. And you have to, for your health."

"Yeah yeah, for my health." Claire answered annoyed.

"Well, I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself."

"I can pay for the medical bills you know." Claire looked down at Cream now.

"Stop that! I meant because I like you. The last thing I want to see is the girl of my dreams get hurt." He took her hand in his. "Which reminds me, will you be my uhm…" Trent's face was hot. He had thought asking would have been easier.

"Will you be my –friend…" he stuttered

"I am your friend Trent," she looked at him confused. She tuck an invisible strand of blonde hair behind her ear as she blushed.

"No, uh will you uhm… would you… ahh…" he felt his mouth go dry and his hands sweaty.

"Trent…" she held his hand with both of hers worried.

"Claire will you be my girlfriend?" he yelled with his eyes shut tight and his face bright red.

"Oh! Hahaha," Claire blushed and laughed.

"Hey! I'm serious here," he pouted.

"Of course I'll be your girlfriend Trent! You are too adorable."

"Great! Okay, I'll be your boyfriend now!" he smiled brightly.

"Here," Claire handed Trent a bottle of milk and pushed the stool aside. "I'm done milking, want to go inside my house?"

"S-sure!" Trent had never been inside Claire's house. The first time she fainted he had treated her but Zack had carried her home because he was stronger.

Claire walked to her house and opened the door. She never had it locked while she was still on the farm because she went in and out grabbing her tools. Trent stepped in after Claire and looked around her house.

"Wow! You're house is impressive." he said with his mouth open in awe.

"Thank you! The only other person that's been in here is Gray." she smiled putting away her things in her tool box.

The doctor winced at the name. He remembered what he himself had said only weeks ago. _You can spend time with your boyfriend later Claire_, _right now I have to see what's wrong with you._

"G-gray? What was he doing in your house?" Trent asked annoyed.

"Oh, he was showering after we got wet in the river." She got up and closed the tool box. She walked over to the doctor. "You hungry?" she asked while placing her hands on the young man's hips.

As if on que, Trent's stomach growled. "I guess I've forgotten to eat today."

"I'll make us some stew. With lots of vegetables, and a little bit of cream." She smiled and walked to her kitchen.

"Sounds delicious!" he exclaimed. He headed to the kitchen but Claire insisted he sit down on the couch and wait for her to prepare the meal. After moments of silence Trent cleared his throat.

"So... you two went swimming in the river and he took a shower in your house? Why didn't he just go to the Inn and shower there? All his things are there." Trent sighed and plopped himself down on Claire's blue sofa.

"Yeah, he showered after I did then changed in the living room." Claire made lots of noise when she got out the pots and pans out of the cupboard.

"He changed in the living room? And you were in here with him?" Trent tried his best o keep his cool and not turn around frantically and fall over. His face blushed as he thought of _many_ scenarios that he knew Carter, his best friend, would not approve of.

"No," Claire sighed, "I had asked Gray to show me around town and he lent me some money to buy groceries. Later I tried giving them back to him but he insisted I keep them and instead pay him back with my..." Claire stopped in the middle of her sentence. She blushed remembering exactly how Gray had said it.

"With your what?" Trent's eyebrow rose.

"With uh.. by playing with him in the water. Anyways, we got out then I offered to let him take a shower inside, it was no big deal." She shrugged. "I showered first but stupid guy, he tried making popcorn and burnt my stove. I came out running in my towel to put the fire out! Aahahah!" Claire giggled.

"In your towel?" he spun around on the couch too quickly. The doctor was a tall man and as he leaned against the backrest of the sofa it fell over to the ground. It made a loud thud as it hit the ground dragging the doctor down with it. His coat flipped over his head and he landed in an awkward position.

"Oh my god!" Claire shrieked and ran to the living room. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes I'm fine." He peeked out from under his coat. Reaching for Claire's extended hand he lifted himself up and dusted himself off. "Claire," his tone turned serious, "what were you doing running around with nothing but a short towel on?"

"What do you mean?" she looked up at him.

Trent picked up the sofa with ease and placed it back to it's original position, "It's indecent Claire, you were in front of a boy. Surely you know better than that," he scoffed.

"Excuse me?" Her aquamarine eyes fired up as she answered, clearly annoyed.

"All I'm saying is that I don't approve of you walking around covered by a thin piece of fabric." He turned around, leaned against the back of the couch and crossed his arms.

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't realize you were my father all of a sudden. What was I_ doing?_" she put her hands on her hips and yelled enraged. "It's indecent? I know better? You don't _approve_?"

"What? No, I never said I was your dad." He made a confused face.

"Are you kidding me? You're acting as if you were. You have no right to tell me what to do!"

"Claire, calm down. I'm just stating my opinion."

His carefree expression and calm attitude pissed Claire off even more.

"You are not stating your opinion. You are telling me what to do, telling me that you 'don't approve of my indecency'." she made quotes with her fingers.

"I am not telling you what to do. And of course I wouldn't approve of you being around Gray, I'm your boyfriend!"

"So Gray is the problem now? What's wrong with him?"

"What's wrong with him? Oh come on Claire, he's an eighteen year old boy who thinks of nothing else but getting laid!"

"So you've had a conversation about this with your best friend the blacksmith? He's told you 'Oh boy best friend, I wish I could be with as many women as I can possibly have because that's all I think about since I'm an eighteen year old boy!'"

"How can you possibly call him a blacksmith?" Trent laughed "He's an apprentice that by the looks of it doesn't know how to do anything."

"Gray is a perfectly good blacksmith and his work is great! He is a good man and my best friend. You're walking on thin ice Trent!"

"Man? What's man about him? He's always whining that his grandfather never praises anything he does. At least Saibara is a wise man, he's not blind to Gray's mistakes like you."

"You know what? I've had enough of this, Gray is my best friend and I will not tolerate you insulting him like that. Go home Trent." She pointed her finger at the door.

"Claire I'm not leaving you still-"

"GET OUT!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs, tears running down her cheeks. "Get out of my house this minute or I'll call Harris over here and Mineral Town will finally have some police work to do!"

"Claire, if you'll just listen to me-" Trent pleaded, regret clear in his voice.

"Damn it Trent! Do you know how hard it is to be in love you? First you're sweet to me then you start acting like my father. You don't even bother to listen to the rest of my story before you blow up!" she constantly wiped the tears off her cheeks.

"Oh and you let me finish my sentences? You know what, fine. I'll leave." Trent turned and walked towards the door infuriated.

"Fine, leave and run away. You're in no right to call Gray anything less than a man because you're no better."

"Fine by me, good luck being on your farm alone 'cause this is the last time I want to see you!"

"Leave!" She yelled at the man speed walking out of her farm. "It's too hard to love you!" Claire slammed the door shut as hard as she could and burst out in tears. Too heart broken to walk to her bed, she collapsed to her knees.

It took all the way to Aja Winery for Trent to notice the tears dripping down his own cheeks. He noticed the pain in his chest which he thought was from speed walking quickly but now realized was from heart ache.

Claire wanted to run to the Inn and cry to Gray but she didn't want to explain the whole Doctor and her thing. Kai, on the other hand, knew everything but the last thing Claire wanted to listen to was him telling her 'I told you so.' Early the next day at three thirty in the morning she woke up, packed a suit case and ran to the pier.

At the pier she hopped on the ship and ignored Zack's confused stare. At the city dock she looked around the mass of people walking everywhere. Zack wanted to get of the boat and help Claire find what she was searching for, or at least ask what on earth she was doing back in the city. Claire disappeared into the crowd before Zack could think twice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

*knock knock knock*

Jack opened the door still half-asleep.

"Claire?"


	16. Best Friends Forever

I hope I didn't take as much time writing this one as the last ones. Please enjoy, I know I did. It's a little long but I'm hoping its worth the read!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harvest Moon or its characters. All I own is the story line.

Read and Review please, and check out my deviantArt profile as well!

* * *

"Claire, what are you doing here?" Jack asked stunned.

Jack looked at his sister. Her eyes welled up with tears and her face was red. She began to cry silently then walked in to Jack's now outstretched arms. The comfort of her older brother was just what she needed.

"I'm not bothering you, am I?" she asked looking around to make sure no one else was in his apartment. His personality matched Kai's, so he usually had company overnight.

"Of course not Claire! Have a seat, do you want something to drink?" he smoothed her hair as she sat down on his couch.

"Just some water please."

"What's wrong Claire? Why are you crying, and why didn't you tell me you were coming over? I would have had the place a little cleaner!" Jack sat down on the coffee table in front of Claire and handed her a glass of water that she gulped down in seconds.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean? You come to my apartment in the city, miles away from your home, show up at my door _crying_ and you're telling me you don't know why?"

"Jack…" Claire thought for a minute. _If I tell Jack why I'm crying, I'll have to tell him about Trent, and I'm not so sure I want my older brother going to Mineral Town and making a ruckus._ "I don't want to talk about it."

Her brother exhaled deeply, "Okay. I respect that, but please stop crying!"

"Yeah okay I'll stop. Uhm, do you think I could crash here for the night?"

"Stay as long as you need sis. And here," He stood and dug out a fifty dollar bill and handed it to Claire. "Go buy yourself some ice cream or something, whatever it is chicks do to feel better."

"No Jack, I can't pay you back."

"Don't worry about it. I don't know the first thing about making you feel better so the least I can do is buy you something," Jack placed the money in her hands and scratched his neck. "Actually I do kinda have someone over, so do you think-"

"Oh, yeah I get it. Can you just hide my stuff somewhere?"

Jack picked up Claire's suitcase and threw it in the hallway closet. She smoothed her hair and wiped her tears away then reached for the door and left. Just as the door closed a woman wearing only a baggy t-shirt stepped in to the living room.

"Jack," the blonde whined, "who was that?"

"Good morning Muffy, someone was looking for a family member but got the wrong apartment. How did you sleep?" he smiled sweetly.

"I was kind of cold. It's funny that you have a queen bed but only a twin blanket and pillow. I also went to the bathroom in the morning and the seat wouldn't stay down."

"You don't say?" Jack pouted on the outside but smirked on the inside. He walked up to her and placed his arm around her shoulder. "Let's go into the hall, you'll love my book collection."

"O-okay, I might leave soon to get a little more comfortable. Do you have any coffee?"

"Nope, never brew any in the morning sorry."

"Oh my god! These aren't books, they're adult movies! I am out of here!" Muffy shrieked and ran out the door with her things.

"Heh, works every time." Jack turned around and walked to his living room to go back to sleep.

Back at the Inn at Mineral Town, Kai was throwing clothes all around the boys' room.

"Kai, just borrow some of my clothes!" Gray groaned.

"P-please Kai, stop, you're making a mess!" Cliff ran around picking up Kai's things and placing them in a neat pile on his own bed.

"Both of you shut up! I'm trying to look for clean clothes." Kai said frantically.

"Just borrow mine!" Gray yelled.

"Gray," Kai smiled, "Gray, gray, gray, gray. I can't wear your clothes! I need to look good, handsome and well dressed. And look at you, the complete opposite!"

"That's it!" Gray walked towards his best friend pushing his sleeve up to his elbow.

"Come at me bro!"

Both boys proceeded to attempt a headlock on one another as the third boy begged them to stop. In the end, the blacksmith won.

"Whatever, point is I don't have clothes and I'm not wearing yours, Gray." Kai said annoyed and sat down on his bed.

"What about your clothes?" Cliff asked looking at the piles of clothes neatly folded on his bed.

"They're dirty."

"Wash them," Gray scoffed.

"I don't know how." Kai mumbled, "I use a washer and dryer at home. I didn't count on staying this long so I didn't bring enough clothes."

"What are you going to do now?" Gray asked combing his hair down.

"I guess I'm gonna go back home and wash my clothes, bring others and probably go shopping for new ones."

"When are you going?"

"Today, I need to go right away."

"Oh okay. Can you bring me back some snacks?"

"I'll bring both of you something, I promise but I have to go now." Kai threw the folded clothes into his suitcase. "Thanks for the clothes Cliff." He tied his bandana on his head and walked out of the room.

"Kai! You're leaving?" Ann asked him as she walked up the stairs.

"Nawh, I have stuff to clean back home. I'll be back tomorrow at the latest."

"Take care!" she yelled with her usual cheery voice.

Kai nodded and proceeded to the beach. As soon as Kai stepped onto the sand, Zack stacked the last of the shipping boxes onto his ship. Kai yelled to Zack and ran over.

"Hey can you take me to the city?" Kai asked reaching into his pocket for money.

"Sure, and don't worry about paying. I'm headed there anyway."

"Thanks!" Kai plopped down on top of a box marked 'Claire's Shipment'. _I wonder where Claire is. I haven't seen her in two days; she must be having fun with Trent. The Clinic is closed today so they must be out._

Kai stepped off the dock at the city and thanked Zack by helping him with the boxes. Grabbing his suitcase and waving goodbye to Zack, Kai left to his apartment. He opened the door and immediately went to the washer and piled his clothes in with detergent and slammed the door shut. As he walked to his closet Kai took off his shirt and flexed in the mirror mounted on the wall. After putting his new clothes on he grabbed his wallet and headed out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Claire stopped in front of an ice cream parlor and sighed. Maybe ice cream _would_ calm her nerves a bit; at least she could escape everything from Mineral Town here. She stepped inside and ordered her usual vanilla ice cream scoop with strawberry syrup and almonds on top, and she could not forget the yummy whipped cream. She paid for her dessert and stepped out of the store, double scoop in hand. She _did_ feel a little better as she savored the tasty treat. Instead of looking up to see where she was going, she concentrated hard on the ice cream trickling down her fingers. Suddenly, she found her nose buried in the coldness as she crashed into another pedestrian.

"Sorry! Are you o-" she began and slowly looked up.

"Claire is that you?" a young man asked surprised. He had wavy brown hair, beautiful chocolate eyes and devilishly good looks Claire could recognize anywhere.

"Kai?" the ice cream fell off her nose and to the ground.

"What are you doing in the city?"

"Me? What are _you_ doing here? You're not supposed to be here, no one is supposed to be here. I came here to escape you!" Tears immediately streamed down her cheeks.

"Woah woah woah. Claire, what's wrong? What do you mean?" Kai held on to Claire's shoulders. He looked up and saw the people around them staring and whispering.

"C-can we go somewhere else?" Claire noticed the people too.

"Yeah. Sure, come on." He smoothed her hair back and walked with her towards the nearest park. He looked back at the crowd of people still staring. "What?" he yelled. "What are you looking at, bunch of nosy people!"

They arrived at the park and the two sat down on a bench secluded from the rest of the park. It was under a tree and sunlight trickled through the spaces between the leaves.

"Claire, what the hell are you doing in the city and why are you crying? Weren't you supposed to be with Trent having the time of your life?"

"We fought Kai! We had a horrible fight." she said between sobs.

"Did he yell at you? If he yelled at you I will march over there and beat the crap out of him! How did you guys start fighting, what could you possibly disagree about?"

"I don't remember, I think he came into my house and he started saying he disapproved of... of Gray coming into my house while I showered. I think I got annoyed that he was telling me what to do like my father when, when he is nothing like my father!"

"Woah, woah Gray went into your house while you were naked in the shower? That little bas-"

"Kai, can we stick to the story please? I'm not in the mood for your jokes right now. Trent started saying bad things about Gray, and I don't know why!"

"He's obviously jealous that Gray got a one way ticket into your heart the minute he met you, while it took Trent months to even step foot on your farm!"

"Into my heart? What, I don't understand."

"It's obvious he's very important to you and vise versa. Claire, can't you see what's right in front of you? He's so close to you, and the man who loves you can't stand the idea of another man being near you."

"But Gray is just my friend; I don't have any feelings towards him. I love Trent and he just asked me to be his girlfriend and five minutes later he acts like he knows what's good for me and telling me what to do."

"He's just jealous that you and Gray are close, regardless of your friendship being more or less than just friends. He wants to take care of you; he was probably flustered and threatened that another guy could be around you in such a situation."

"What situation, there was no situation! How do you know Trent was being jealous?" Claire began to get louder as Kai's words confused her more and more.

"Because I would be too Claire, sure I'm closer to Gray and I probably wouldn't insult him straight out, but I would still be pretty pissed off…" Kai's voice trailed off as his face became slightly pink. Claire's eyes widened at the sight. "You're a wonderful, unique and amazing girl. Any guy would be lucky to have you. Gray is my friend too but it makes jealous that he gets to be so close to you Claire! Naturally Doc would be mad as well, but he only said those things because he's afraid he'll loose you. He loves you and there's no way he could have meant any of that. We say things we don't mean in the heat of the moment. We're human Claire, it's in our nature."

Claire sat still, pondering his words. Kai was jealous of Gray? But why, she didn't understand a thing.

"You're right. I have to go back and confront this, I can't just run away. Trent still loves me right? Even after all he said..."

Kai lifted Claire's chin to face him. "I'm positive he does."

"It still isn't right of him to insult Gray that way. It just hurts." she sighed, she wasn't feeling well and Kai's strange reaction wasn't helping.

"Why do you think it hurts so much?" Kai's tone was serious and it made Claire uncomfortable as she looked back down.

"He's my best friend, of course it's gonna hurt. I love my friends."

"You sure about that?" Claire's head shot up confused. "Is Gray really only a friend?"

She stood still as if Kai's words had suddenly slapped her across the face. She was speechless.

"I... I don't know." Her answer terrified her and the fright was clear in her eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

"Gray, it's one o'clock already, you can finish Mary's tool tomorrow," Saibara grunted.

"Kay." Gray walked toward the door and stopped, "Thanks for letting me work on the tool this time Gramps. It... uh... it means a lot to me," Gray turned the knob and heard his grandpa clear his throat.

"You've improved," the old man grumbled as he examined Gray's progress. Smirking, the blonde left the shop. He was so excited about his grandpa's approval he figured he should share the good news with Claire. That's why today he made a left turn instead of a right when he walked away from the shop.

He stepped foot in to her farm and looked around. It was still fall and Claire had been growing some yams in her garden, the apple tree had finally bloomed and the pond had few fish left. Claire must have taken the fish out and cooked them or stored them in her fridge before the pond froze in the winter.

Gray walked to the house and knocked on the door, it opened slightly. Of course it came as no surprise that Claire's door was open because she usually had it unlocked during the day. Burglars didn't exist in mineral town. He stepped inside and yelled out Claire's name. He did this three more times and received no answer. He looked around and began to worry. She was without a doubt always at her house at this time watching television everyday. He looked around for any clues that might tell him where she could be, he was worried sick until he saw Claire's suitcase missing from its original space.

He ran to the closet and opened the door; sure enough most of Claire's belongings were gone. Had Claire left mineral town without saying anything? His mind flashed back to the day he visited her after the moon festival.

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~.**

"You're not thinking of leaving the farm are you?"

"I don't know Gray."

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~.**

Gray ran at full speed to the beach, and just in time. Zack was on his boat packing up the last box and was about to leave when he heard someone shout his name.

"Woah, de ja vu, same thing happened this morning with Kai. What's up Gray?"

"De ja what? Nevermind, did Claire by any chance go to the city?"

"Yes, she did early this morning. What's wrong, what happened to Claire?" Zack's voice went tense.

"I don't know, are you headed there right now?"

"To the city? Yeah, it's my last stop. Would you like to come with me? It's getting late, do you have somewhere to stay?"

"If there's room for one more, you'd be doing me a big favor. I have enough money to pay for a hotel room for the night."

"Okay, come on board."

Gray stepped on to the boat and sat in the seat at the front for a better view. It was his first time going to the city since he moved to Mineral Town. He was scared; he didn't want to revisit a place that reminded him of such horrible things. There, his parents had died. Yet, he was going. He was so sure of himself and so sure that he wanted to take the risk of remembering things. Why? Because he was worried about Claire, and somehow that worry was stronger than the fear he had. He needed to make sure she was alright. He cared about her. A lot. This was natural for a best friend, right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

After talking, Kai had offered Claire a treat that could only be found on the dock. They walked in the shop and Kai offered to order the food while Claire looked around outside. The view was lovely, not as pretty as in Mineral Town, but beautiful nonetheless.

Claire noticed Zack tying his ship to the dock and she waved. Zack waved back, and at that moment a familiar hat-protected head popped out to stare her straight in the face.

It terrified Gray to be back in this place, but as soon as he saw those gorgeous blue eyes, that shining blonde hair and that beautiful pink face all his troubles seemed to melt away. He jumped off the boat and ran towards Claire. Seeing this, Claire began to run towards him too. He slowed down and embraced her in a hug that lifted her off her feet; she hugged him back as tight as she could. He set Claire back down on her feet but held on to her shoulders as he looked her in the eyes.

It was then when Gray realized how he truly felt about Claire. He began to remember everything; the first time they met, their swim in the river, his stupid accident that caused her to run out of the shower wearing only her towel, falling asleep in her barn after telling each other their tragic family stories, even being left at the moon festival and waiting for her as she healed at the hospital, everything. He had trouble finding out how he truly felt about this girl for a very long time. Everyone jumped to their own conclusions about their friendship, but now he knew. He had never liked her in that way. He had finally found a friend he could count on, talk to, and protect. Claire was his best friend, and he loved her. Loved her in a way that only a best friend could, unconditionally.

As if telepathically, Claire understood too. That hug had reminded her why the insults towards Gray had hurt her so much. It was because she loved Gray not because she was _in love_! Of course she loved Trent too, but they were very different kinds of love. Trent was her soul mate, they were destined to be together and love each other for eternity. Gray was her best friend and they would be forever, that love they had for each other was like a sibling bond.

She thanked Kai mentally for helping her figure this out. Kai! She'd left him inside the store. When she turned around Kai was walking towards them as if on cue, but he seemed... angry! Kai walked up to them, ignored Claire and swung his fist at Gray.

"What the hell? What was that for?" Gray stepped back and held on to his cheek throbbing with pain.

"That's for walking in on Claire while she was in the shower!" Kai yelled furiously.

"What! I would never do that to her."

"Kai stop it! He didn't walk in on me!" Claire screamed.

"You told me Trent was mad that Gray had come in to your house while you were in the shower," Kai said confused.

"No! Gray and I had swum in the river and I offered him to shower at my house. While I was showering he tried cooking something and lit the stove on fire, that's when I had to run out in my towel to put the thing out!"

"Well why didn't you say that in the first place? Damn it, Gray I'm sorry. I didn't punch you that bad did I?" Kai's face turned red with embarrassment.

"Kinda, but I guess its pay back for the head lock. But wait, who's Trent?" Gray asked still somewhat in pain. Almost no one in town knew the doctor's real name since most of them never had to visit. Other than Jeff, Claire, and Lillia, everyone else just called him "the doctor".

Then, Claire told them everything. She didn't leave a single shred of detail out as to not confuse the boys any further. The story was long and they decided to take the food Kai had ordered back to Kai's place.

"But Claire," Gray asked when she had finished, "the doctor is twenty three already. Isn't there a big age difference?"

"Yeah Claire, just how old are you?" Kai asked.

"Same age as you guys," she answered, a bit annoyed with the question.

"I'm nineteen and Gray is eighteen."

"My birthday's in winter." Gray imputed.

"My birthday was when Jack came to town. That's why he came, to celebrate my birthday."

"But didn't you say you were seventeen when you came here?" Kai pestered.

"I only said that so Mayor Thomas would think I still had lots of years left in me and give me the farm quicker," she explained, "I was eighteen of course, but my birthday was in summer. I didn't think I'd tell anyone my birth date because I still didn't know anyone that well."

"Makes sense," Gray finished.

Then, a faint voice came from outside. It was shouting something. The three stood still to listen. Kai opened the window and stuck his head out.

"Claire! Claire!" a person repeated. Claire ran to the window and looked down.

"Jack?" she yelled.

"Claire? Claire, is that you? Where are you?"

"Jack, I'm up here!"

"Claire, young lady, come down here this instant!" he yelled now more furious than ever.

She stuck her head back inside and looked at the two boys who had the same look of confusion as she did. Without a word, the three climbed down the many set of stairs down to the front door where Claire's older brother was waiting. He was leaning against the wall, his favorite cap casting a shadow over his face and his arms crossed.

"Jack, what's wrong? Why are you yelling so loudly?" Claire stepped closer to her brother and tried looking underneath his hat.

"Claire," Jack pulled her close and hugged her, "Why didn't you go back to the apartment, do you know what time it is? Couldn't you at least have called me? You come to my home, _crying_ and then disappear? I thought you had committed suicide!"

"Jack, you're squishing me. It's not that late is it?"

"It's ten forty-five." Kai said glancing at his watch.

"See? It's so late Claire, I've been worried sick."

"I don't know your phone number and I don't even own a cell phone!"

"You should have come back to the apartment right away; you shouldn't be out with these two shady guys!"

"Who are you calling shady?" Gray stepped forward.

"That's not a nice thing to say to people you haven't seen in a while," Kai kept his cool as he crossed his arms.

"Kai? Gray is that you? Oh, wow sorry guys. I didn't see you there. What are you two doing in the city?"

"Business," the two answered in unison after sharing a quick glance.

"I see. Well, sorry for offending but my little sister and I should be off."

"What, already? Why does everyone think I can't take care of myself?" Claire pouted.

"You can stay with me if you want," Kai offered.

Gray's mind swirled with so many visions of what Kai could do to Claire if they were alone in an apartment at night, or any time of the day in Kai's case.

"Thanks Kai, but Jack's right. We should get going, thanks for everything." she hugged Kai then whispered in his ear. "After Gray, you are definitely my greatest friend. Thanks for the talk."

"Anything for you Claire," Kai whispered back.

She smiled and said good-bye to both boys and walked away with her brother.

"Need a place to stay?" Kai turned to Gray.

"I'd figure you'd be hospitable."

"One rule, you don't sleep in my bed."

"Fine by me." Gray laughed and followed Kai up to his apartment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

"The doctor isn't in today?" Popuri asked Elli surprised.

"No, he came downstairs this morning and told me he'd be right back but he hasn't arrived since. I guess yesterday wasn't enough of a day off!"

"I know it's pretty early, but could you sell me some medicine for my mother? She's not feeling too well," Popuri glanced at the clock; it was eight thirty-five in the morning.

"Of course, just hold on one moment."

The door to the clinic burst open and doctor Trent came in. He was dripping with sweat and his coat was covered in dirt.

"Goddess damn it, I blew it." he yelled storming into his office.

_If I didn't know better,_ Popuri thought to herself, _I could have sworn those were tears, not sweat coming out of doctor's eye._

Trent sat down in his chair; it took all his might to keep from bursting out in tears. He'd been looking for Claire all day and couldn't find her anywhere on her farm. He'd searched the forest and the mountains but saw no sign of her. He never wanted to say everything he did, he didn't even dislike Gray. Tears dripped on to his desk, he knew he had lost his only love. The phone began to ring and Trent lunged at it, hoping it was Claire.

"Hey doc? It's Zack; someone came back with me on the morning ship. She says she wants to see you." He had said more but Trent had dropped the phone like a hot potato as soon as he heard "she" and ran out of the clinic.

The tired doctor stepped foot on the soft sand and looked at the boat, there wasn't anyone on board so he walked into Zack's house. He opened the door and Zack, Won and a woman turned around.

"Hello Trent, remember me?" the brunette woman smiled.

"Emily?" He gasped.

He recognized that face even after so many years. This was the same girl that had crushed him when he was young. This was the girl who Trent told Claire about. This was the girl who had befriended him, then left him as friendless as and even more depressed than he had been. This was the girl Trent never wanted to see again, yet wanted to meet one last time. This girl, this girl right here, she was the one Trent feared the most.


	17. Please Don't Leave Me

Hey everyone, so I uploaded this one like lightening! I wrote it in about two hours XD. Hope you enjoy, I know I did. Will Claire ever go back home? Will the new comer seduce the doctor? Is the doctor strong enough to meet the one who reminds him most of his past? What will happen when he has such a good time with this mysterious woman and doesn't remember anything bad about his past? Will I ever shut up?

I only have the answer to one of those questions. Yes, I'll shut up.

* * *

"Emily?"

"I'm surprised you remember!" her smile seemed to light up the room but for the doctor, it only deepened his horror.

"Emily, what are you doing here?" Trent's voice was a mixture of surprise and sternness, a confusing combination that left his tone the opposite of manly.

"She came up to me last night while I was about to take off-" Zack began.

"I saw a box on his boat. It had your name on it; I couldn't help but ask him to take me wherever that box was headed. I haven't seen you in so many years. How are you?" she stood up and walked up to the sweating doctor. "You're eyes. They're so cold. You didn't look like this before."

"Emily," his tone had turned frightening, "I'm going to ask you as nicely as I possibly can. Please leave."

"Oh you! You always were very blunt. Come on, I'm sure this town has a café, let me treat you to something. Although, it should be you who's treating me." she burst out laughing. She took hold of Trent's arm and pulled him outside.

"What was that?" Won looked at Zack confused.

"It seems like they knew each other a long time ago. Most likely before the doc came here."

"She didn't even buy anything. How rude." Won pouted.

"Wow! The plaza is huge! Where are all the people? What way is the coffee shop?" Emily clung to Trent's arm as if her life depended on it.

He had just asked her to leave in his most serious tone, why wasn't she offended? "We don't have a coffee shop," he stated quietly.

"You don't? What, that's too bad. Oh my gosh, look at that tree! It looks just like the one outside your front yard! Do you remember?" the woman ran to the tree and gazed at it in awe. Her wavy brown hair bounced on her shoulders.

_She's as cheerful as she was back then. She doesn't seem to have changed a bit, still as young and excited as ever. _Trent caught himself thinking about this woman in front of him and blushed.

"How do you remember?" he asked jogging up to her.

"Well I remember important parts of my life," she smiled at him. He chuckled and scratched the back of his neck. "So Trent, you're a doctor?"

"Yes, I've been here for a while now. Would you like to go to the forest? It's prettier there, and we can sit on the grass."

"I'd love that, lead the way."

They arrived at the forest and sat down on a soft patch of grass. It was getting cold as it neared winter in Mineral Town and Emily had forgotten to bring a sweater. Without a single thought, Trent took off his coat and swung it over her shoulders.

"It's not much but it'll keep you warm."

"Thank you," the woman smiled as her face flushed.

At first, Trent had wanted her to leave. But he also wanted to talk to her; she had been his only friend when they were younger. They laughed and reminisced about their old times on Trent's porch, he didn't even remember what had caused him so much pain. Not yet at least.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

"Claire," Jack pushed his sister across his bed after calling her name for the fifth time. "You're friends are here. I have to go to work. I left your clothes on the chair and breakfast on the table. I'm leaving some money for you on the table next to the lamp okay? Wake up sleepy head; it's the last time I'm calling you."

"What?" Claire got up slowly, still sleepy and blurry eyed. "Trent?" she rubbed her eyes.

"It's Jack. Who's Trent?" Jack raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Hmmm Jack? Oh, okay good night." Claire rolled on to her side and fell asleep again.

"Get out of bed you damn lazy head or you'll miss the boat ride home!" Jack pushed his sister off the bed.

"Okay, okay. Thanks for everything Jack; I probably won't see you again for a while." She smiled and got up to hug him.

"You never did tell me what was wrong. Is everything okay in Mineral Town, Claire? Is this Trent guy bothering you?"

"It's fine, I just needed to unwind for a while. I'm honest I'm okay," Claire smiled but she really wanted to cry. She wasn't sure she was ready to go back to Mineral Town.

Her brother closed the door and left. Claire turned to the chair inside the room and began to put on the clothes Jack had set out for her; she pocketed the money and made the bed. As she opened the door she heard the TV set, had Jack left it on? She stepped in to the living room and gasped as she realized Kai and Gray lazily sitting on the sofa. The blonde sleeping under his cap and the brunette watching TV.

"Do you two want breakfast?" Claire broke the silence suddenly.

"Sure, what are you making?" Kai turned off the TV, nudged Gray and walked over.

"Anything you want," Claire smiled.

"I'll have an omelet doll face," Kai smirked looking Claire up and down. "Cute apron."

"Waffles are fine for me," Gray chimed in walking over.

"And I'm guessing pineapple juice for Kai and chocolate milk for Gray right?"

"How'd you know I like pineapples?"

"You told me Kai, it's silly you don't remember."

"O-Oh, right," Kai blushed and looked away. No one had ever remembered anything about him. It was nice to have a friend that listened to him, a female friend. Popuri just babbled on and on; she never took it into consideration that maybe guys wanted to talk too.

"Done!" Claire set the two plates on the dining room table some minutes after.

"What about you Claire?" Gray asked biting into his waffle.

"Jack already made me eggs and bacon. I ate them while fixing you guys something to eat."

"What's wrong? You don't look so well."

"I'm just not sure if I'm ready to face Trent again."

"It's one fight Claire, you're love life isn't over," Kai reassured her.

"That's just it, it may be over. When he left my farm, he told me…" Claire began to tremble; tears glistened as they feel down her cheeks. "He told me he never wanted to see me again."

"What?" Kai stood up dropping the chair behind him. "Why didn't you tell us? Don't cry! Look like I said, we don't mean what we say. He's probably looking all over town for you right now."

Kai's words made everyone stop. Maybe Trent _was _searching all over town for her. What would happen if everyone found out the three were gone? The trio looked at each other and gulped down their food, packed their bags and ran out the door. They didn't stop running until they reached the dock, greeted Zack and hopped in the boat.

"That was a close one, you kids almost didn't make it!" Zack laughed. "Where were you kids anyway? I don't think the town has noticed you missing, but some people surely will."

"Well, it's only been a day," Claire told Zack matter-of-factly.

"You think that'll stop the gossip machine?" Gray scoffed.

The two boys laughed as Claire and Zack looked at them confused.

"That's your only real problem Claire," Kai chuckled, "You can keep it from the world but once Manna's got a hold of it, it'll spread quicker than wild fire."

"Keep what?" Zack looked at Claire and she looked away blushing.

"Shut up Kai!" Gray punched him and pointed to the young farmer.

"Sweetie, it'll be fine. You just wait, as soon as you step off that dock I'm sure he'll be waiting right there for you." The bandana man walked up to Claire and put his arm around her shoulder.

"You really think so?" she looked up smiling.

"Of course I do! And if he isn't, you can always have me instead!" he began laughing again until the tiny blonde punched him hard in the shoulder. "You've got quite a punch doll face."

"Here we are," Zack pulled up to the beach and helped each passenger out.

Claire stood with her back to them gazing at the beach.

"He's looking for you Claire. I know he is. Go to your farm and wait, he'll come soon enough," Gray patted her back.

Without a word, she walked slowly to her farm and she hated every step of the journey.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

"Yes! I remember that!" Trent laughed, "He fell and landed tangled in the soccer net."

"Yeah! And it took them hours to get him untangled!" Emily chuckled.

"What was his name?"

"Ted," she smiled

Then, Trent's mind did a somersault.

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"Hey, are you Trent?" a child with a missing tooth and brown tousled hair asked the little boy sitting on his front porch alone.

"Y-yeah," the dark haired boy looked down at his shoes.

"I'm Ted, you knew Emily right? Well she moved and she told me, her boyfriend, to tell you something!"

"Her b-boyfriend?" the eight-year old could barely understand why any kid his age would want a relationship.

"That's right, Trent. She never wanted to be your friend. _I'm _her only friend because I'm better looking and stronger than you. We dared her to get all your secrets out and she told us what a loser you are! Haha!" the child spat in Trent's face and ran away blowing raspberries at him.

"It was a dare?" Trent began to cry and ran inside his house seeking his mother for comfort. All he found was his father sitting on the sofa as he took his tie off. Trent gasped and held his breath, if his father saw him crying it would be the end of him. He couldn't help it and let out a gasp that sent the waterworks flowing again.

"Trent? Trent is that you? That better not be you crying. Men don't cry, come out Trent! I'll give you a reason to cry!" his father's booming voice seemed to shake the entire house. The small boy ran to his parent's bedroom to find his mother. He stepped inside the room and found her looking at an old photo album, her face was sad and almost lifeless.

"Mommy?" the young child looked at his mother from behind the door.

"What is it Trent? Go tell your father, I don't want to hear you!" she threw the book at the door enraged. Trent ran to his room and shut the door. He hid under his covers until the pain went away. But it didn't go away. Hour after painstaking hour, he remembered all the "good" memories he had had with Emily and they all shattered before his eyes.

No one would be there for him. Everyone had left him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~.

"Emily," he stood up quickly. Emily gave him his coat back and he put it on quickly.

"What is it? Is there somewhere else you want to show me?"

"Emily, why did you accept their dare? Why did you make fun of me?" he stammered.

"What are you taking about Trent?"

"The day you left the neighborhood Ted…Ted told me it had all been a dare. Why did you do it? Why did you hurt me like that, what had I possibly done to you?"

"Trent, calm down! That was years ago, you don't seriously remember all of that do you?" but he did. "You don't think I wanted to hurt you do you?" but he did. "Don't tell me you want me to apologize," but he did.

"Don't you understand how much that hurt me?" he put his hands on her shoulders and shook her gently.

"Treeent," she placed her hands on his hips, "forget about it."

Claire walked into her farm and thanked the Goddess for the harvest sprites that had noticed she was missing and attended her field and livestock for her. She spotted her dog, Zacky up ahead near the bridge and ran to him.

"Oh Zacky I've missed you!" the dog barked back happily. "Shhh, Zacky hold on." Claire stood up and listened closely. "Do you hear that? Sounds like someone's in the forest. I wonder if it's Rick and Karen talking again. I don't like Karen, but it'd be nice to see Rick." she put the dog down and crossed the bridge into the clearing of the forest. "Rick?" she peered out from behind a tree and saw Trent.

"Emily, I…" he saw something move near a tree. He glanced again and saw blonde hair, blue eyes and that rosy face, but it wasn't smiling. "Claire?" Emily turned around to see what Trent was looking at.

Claire's eyes began to water and her face was red. She turned around and ran back to her farm.

"Claire!" Trent stepped forward to run after her but found Emily still clung to him.

"Trent, who is that? Aren't we having fun, why are you leaving?" Emily looked up pouting.

"Being with you made me realize just how much I love that girl. There's no one else as amazing as her and I'm not going to let you ruin anything else for me. You made me miserable; you should have left when I told you to," he pushed her away gently.

"Trent, you can't be serious," but he was. He began to run but the brunette woman grabbed hold of his arm again. "I don't know anyone else, how will I-"

"I believe I told you to leave," he pulled his arm away and ran to Claire's farm.

The blonde ran with all her might, if she could just make it to her door and close it shut.

"Claire!" Trent's voice echoed across her field. She turned around and saw the doctor running towards her with great speed.

She tried running faster but her legs could only carry her so far with every step. She was almost near the fish pond. Trent was few feet behind her. This was his only chance, he dove after her and toppled to the ground with her.

"Leave me alone!" she yelled trying to scurry to her feet.

"Claire, please listen to me," his face was looking down and he grabbed her arm for dear life. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean anything I said Claire. I love you and I want to be with you forever. I don't want you to leave me. I want to protect you always and keep you safe. I don't want to hurt you anymore. Hit me all you want, yell at me, and scream at me. But please, please…" his whole body trembled. He put his face upward to look at her. Claire's eyes widened. His face was red and tears streamed out of his eyes like faucets. This was the first time Claire had seen him cry with so much pain. "Please don't leave me." Tears began to well up in her own eyes.

"Trent, no I'll never leave you. I promised you that I'd always be here for you. Sorry for leaving, I shouldn't have run away from the problem. I should have stayed her to talk with you. I'm so sorry. I won't leave you again." she cried and hugged Trent tightly. They both sat crying and hugging each other on the ground.

"I love you Claire," Trent held her face and kissed her.

"I do too. I love you too Trent," she said between the muffled kiss.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Back on the dock, Emily sat in Zack's boat furiously. _I came all this way to meet the man that small and pathetic child had become and realize he is no more grown up than before!_ "How pathetic, crying into the arms of a woman." She scoffed. Suddenly, a huge splatter of bird poo landed on the top of her head. She screamed at the top of her lungs but the sputter of the boat's engine drowned her out. As she screamed, the boat created a huge wave that crashed over her and filled her mouth with salty water. Her luggage was now soaking wet and filled with sand and covered in wet, slimy seagull excrement. Every element of the beach was against her. There was no use denying it. Karma was a beach.

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Did you like? :D Review please! Mo – ti – va – tion!  
Like that play on words at the end?  
I don't like to brag but it was genius wasn't it?

*Townsfolk throw tomatoes at me* JUST WRITE THE NEXT CHAPTER!

Claire: Heyyy, those are my tomatoes! I just harvested them! T-T

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything! All I own is the story line and my ruler! :D


	18. An Old, Forgotten Memory

Hey guys! Please enjoy this chapter because school's starting soon and i may not update this story as fast as i hope to! I hope you guys will love it like i did! I officially dedicate this chapter to my lil sister for her birthday today. Happy Birthday Diana! Ur the best sis a girl could ask for (:

DISCLAIMER: I own NOTHING. All characters from Harvest Moon belong to their owners. All i own is the story line and my squishy pillow :D

* * *

"Who was that girl Trent?" Claire sipped on her mug quietly.

"Remember that girl I told you about? The one who got dared to ask me about my life then expose my secrets to everyone?" Trent sat back in his chair and sighed.

After making up and, making _out_ the couple had entered Claire's home for a cup of coffee and cookies.

"That was her? What was she doing here and how did she find out where you live?" Claire began to feel jealous.

"She said she saw a box with my name on Zack's chip. She arrived here assuming it was me then had Zack phone me at the clinic. I was excited to receive the call," He looked at Claire's hurt expression, "because I thought it was you. Where were you?"

"I went to see my brother in the city," she confessed. "It was after our fight."

"About that, I really am sorry. I didn't want to yell at you but," Trent rested his forehead on his hand, "I was jealous of Gray. Not because I wanted to see you in a towel. I was just jealous that you spend so much time with him. I don't hate him so don't take any of it personally."

"No, I understand. He's just my best friend, that's why I didn't like you insulting him. He was the first person I met when I arrived and he just stuck. He helped me out a lot those first few weeks."

"I see," he took a drink of his coffee and set it down gingerly on the table. "I'm not trying to tell you right form wrong but, he didn't see you naked did he?"

"No he didn't. It wasn't like that, Gray's not…" she paused to think of the right word, "He's not like Kai."

Trent chuckled, "That's too bad."

"I think just one Kai in town is enough," she laughed.

"That's not what I meant," he smirked at her and took a cookie from the plate.

Claire's stomach fluttered. That smirk was the same lusty smile Kai had on most times. "Then w-what did you mean?" she looked down at the table, her cheeks reddening.

"I was being sarcastic. But an eighteen year old boy would be more than glad to have seen that."

"Trent!" Claire's face became beet red. She threw a cookie at the doctor's face.

"Hahaha, hey!" he covered his face with his arm. "Open your eyes Claire, he's a man and you're a woman. You don't think he doesn't dream about these kinds of things do you?"

"I wouldn't like to think that."

"That's a shame."

"Why?"

"Well, I know I do," that lusty smile returned to the doctor's face.

"I'm so not getting a check up from you anymore," Claire smiled uncomfortably.

"I'm kidding! Grow up Claire. But seriously, don't be afraid to get a check up when you're not feeling well," he said returning to his doctor-ly self.

"Speaking of check ups, isn't today Thursday?"

"Yes. What about it?"

"You don't have the day off," Claire bit a cookie and awaited Trent's reaction.

"Shit!" he shot up from his chair, gave his girlfriend a quick kiss on the forehead and ran out the door. I'll come by later!"

Claire had never seen this side of Trent before. It was a little unexpected but obvious as well. He was a doctor and had to keep any _impulses_ locked up tight, no wonder he was always so quiet. He was also a twenty-three year old man who was brimming with hormones that had been suppressed a long time.

Her days in the city were over and she had a farm to take care of. She walked to her tool box and picked up the sickle and basket. Outside, she collected the ripe vegetables and cut down the nearly withered vines. She began to wonder how she was going to get through the winter with enough money. Other than her livestock, she didn't have much to fall back on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

"I'm incredibly sorry Elli," Trent wheezed as he threw open the door to the clinic.

"Oh! Doctor you finally arrived," she tilted her head towards the _full_ waiting room.

_Of course. The one day I'm gone and suddenly everyone has to visit the clinic._ He shook his head in embarrassment. "I'm sorry everyone. I'll to attend each of you right away. Elli, please send in the first patient."

Sitting in the waiting room chairs were Stu with a slight cold, Kai with fresh bruises from Popuri, Ann with a burn from her kitchen stove, Basil with an allergic reaction to a new plant he had been inspecting and Harris with a fever from going on his usual route in the rain.

Trent handed Harris a tiny bag containing two pills for his fever and finally sat down in his chair after treating everyone. Elli said good bye to the doctor and exited the clinic. He took of his coat and stethoscope and placed them on his coat hanger. Sighing, he unbuttoned three of his shirt buttons and loosened his tie. It had been a busy day for him and he was exhausted. He made his way to the door and began walking to Claire's farm.

Lights and voices came from Claire's windows as Trent knocked on her door. She opened it and welcomed him in. As he stepped inside, the two visitors slipped their glasses below the table.

"Hey Doctor!" Gray and Kai smiled.

"Hello Kai, good evening Gray," Trent responded politely.

"Aww come on doc, you don't have to be all fancy," Kai laughed.

"You don't have to hide your drinks from me, I'm not Harris."

"Trent just so you know, Gray knows too. I told him," Claire smiled sweetly.

"Yes I understand. He _is_ you're best friend."

The two younger men raised their wine back up on the table. Claire handed Trent a glass and took a small sip from her own. She wasn't much of a drinker but enjoyed bending the law from time to time. The trio still had two more years to go before being able to legally drink but had no trouble sneaking a wine bottle from Doug with Ann's help.

"Are you three celebrating something?" Trent asked after a sip of his wine.

Gray, Kai and Claire glanced at each other and smiled. They were celebrating their friendship. Because of the trip to the city everything had fallen into place for them. Gray and Claire realized they were destined to be best friends and nothing more, Kai and Gray strengthened their friendship and Kai and Claire had helped the other too. Kai – as well as Gray – was easy to talk to and had previous relationship experience. Claire was the kind of female friend Kai needed in his life without the relationship or tussle in bed.

"No," Kai replied.

"Not really," Claire smiled.

"Just having fun," Gray added.

After finishing their drinks the boys left to the Inn before it closed. Trent sat down next to Claire on her sofa in front of the fire place.

"Tomorrow is the first day of winter, what do you plan on doing?" he put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer.

"I think I'll bake a cake and make tea for the harvest sprites. I want to ask them to take care of my animals," she cuddled up next to him and felt his warmth against her ear. She also heard his heart beat. Somehow, it was music to her ears.

Both of them sat quietly staring at the fire as it ate up the logs. Claire closed her eyes and leaned on Trent, her stomach still did flips even though they were already a couple. She loved that feeling. Everything seemed perfect in the world; no fighting or yelling, things made sense and she felt protected again. This was why she loved Trent so much. Since the first time she was around him, though she was nearly unconscious, she felt safe. Her whole life after her parents passed away was about growing up. Her brother was older than her but she still had to learn to take care of herself. Who else bought a farm and worked on it until her fingers bled? Through scorching heat, blasting winds and torrential downpours she managed to keep going. She knew she had grown up much too quickly but now that Trent was in her life she had someone to depend on. Of course Trent had never helped her with the actual farm work but every time she collapsed or had an injury he was there to help her, not because he was a doctor but because he was her savior.

She could happily enjoy the pleasures of having a calm life with him. she remembered having the time of her life when they began a tickle fight in the clinic. The two were alone and had a blast jumping over Trent's desk and running around the entire building. Or when they bumped into each other at the lake and Claire gave him something to eat and they both sat on the grass arm in arm watching the sun set below the mountain. Even now after so much time that she had known him her face still reddened, her heart pounded and the butterflies in her stomach still went crazy. She was like a little kid in love but she enjoyed every second of it, especially now that her love was being returned.

"You know Claire, I've never felt like this and I kind of like it," Trent broke the silence and startled the blonde. "I don't know if a man should feel like this or even tell someone and especially a girl. Even though we're sitting so calmly my heart is beating violently and my face feels warm but I know it's not from the fire. I've never been this close to someone. You make me feel special Claire. From the first time I saw you I admired every aspect of you. Your hair shines even in the most unflattering light and it always smells so sweet. The way your cheeks blush all the time is adorable. You're so beautiful but not just that, you're also the nicest person I've ever met. When you smile the entire room brightens up and you make my whole day that much better. And you're laugh is the cutest I've ever heard. I can tell it's not fake because I can almost see your soul smile. I'm glad we're together now. I have the most beautiful girl sitting next to me. Beautiful both inside and out."

Claire sat in shock, no one had ever said such sweet words to her. She was speechless. Tears almost fell out of her eyes. She didn't realize anyone paid so much attention to her.

"And you're eyes. Those hypnotizing, shining blue eyes. Like two glowing blue orbs from the sea. I swear," he looked down to gaze into her eyes, "I can see your beautiful soul. Claire, I truly love you."

"I love you two Trent. That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me."

"I'm glad to be the first. It's getting late, I should go."

"Really? Don't leave Trent."

"Claire, it's almost eleven. I'd love to stay but I don't think it'd be the best idea to stay here. If someone saw me leave your house in the morning they'd get the wrong impression."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Will you come see me tomorrow?"

"Yeah I'll bring you some milk?"

"I'd love that!" Trent's eyes widened almost as big as his smile.

"Bye," she waved as she saw him walk away. This time she didn't have tears in her eyes but instead a warm feeling in her heart.

The next day Claire awoke bundled up in her blanket from the cold. Her eyes blinked open and she stared into a forest of golden hair. Soon she recognized two glistening blue eyes staring back at her. She sat up quickly and confirmed her guess.

"Gray!" she bunched up the blanket and wrapped it around her.

"Hey Claire!" he smiled.

"Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"Gramps gave me the day off. He thinks I did excellent progress so he's giving me a day to get inspired. Personally, I think he just wants an extra day to sleep. Winter makes him more tired than usual."

"That's great! He still thinks you've improved. What did I tell you, I knew you could do it Gray."

"Yeah thanks. Well since I have the day off I wanted to tell you the good news and take you on a little outing." he smiled and handed her a package wrapped in pink paper and tied with a green bow.

"What's this?" she blushed

"Just a little something I got you in the city. Come on, I made breakfast."

"Thank you. Let me just change."

"Okay," he smiled and shut the door behind him.

Claire stepped out of her room wearing her pink overalls and a thick white jacket in her hand.

"Come on Claire the food's getting cold. I want to show you the summit when it's snowing."

"I'm coming," she ate the food quickly. Gray held her jacket as she put it on and buttoned it.

"Where's the gift?"

"Oh it's right here," she took it out of her pocket and opened it, "Wow! Thanks Gray, I love it," she wrapped the scarf around her neck and nuzzled it.

"Welcome. Now come on!" he pulled her by the wrist and they ran all the way to the summit.

"Wow! Everything's covered with snow! You can see the town from here!" she yelled like a little kid as she looked over the edge of the mountain.

"Yeah," he smiled. Gray never really enjoyed winter because he hated the cold. Now, it didn't seem so bad. He liked seeing Claire acting like Stu as she admired each and every snowflake.

"Hey, there's Trent!" she pointed for Gray to see. He squinted his eyes and indeed saw the doctor walking to the clinic. "He must have gone to see Lillia."

"Maybe. How did you guys even get together? I'm still surprised about that."

Claire's expression changed from excited to a lovey dovey face. Her cheeks became red and she talked in a calmer voice.

"I don't even remember it just sort of happened. He apologized for everything and we sat in front of the fire place yesterday. He said the sweetest things to me. He told me how he felt about me; no one has ever said anything like that to me."

"Well you had you're first fight. It'll make you stronger of course. Now you only have one problem."

"What?"

"How you gonna crack the news to everyone in town?"

"I don't think I have to tell anyone."

"You can't keep it a secret forever Claire. You know what you have to do."

"That's just it, I don't know what to do! Everyone celebrates the new year right?"

"Yeah, they all have noodles and stuff their faces. The whole town goes; it's a lot of fun."

"We'll go and tell everyone there."

"Sounds like a plan. You ready to go?"

"Oh are we going somewhere else?" Claire lit up and smiled.

"Yeah Kai has some lunch prepared," Gray took her hand and led the way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Elli heard the door to the clinic open and looked up. Kai stepped towards her but he looked perfectly healthy.

"Hello Kai, what brings you here?"

"Hey Elli, is the doctor busy today?" he smiled and leaned on the counter.

"I don't think so, you can walk in if you need a check up," she blushed.

"Actually I wanted him to come try my new food. I tried making a healthier dish and I need his approval." Kai looked the nurse up and down, smirked and leaned in closer, "But I could get a lady's approval as well." Elli blushed and leaned back off the counter.

"I don't think Elli's qualified for that yet," Trent crossed his arms and leaned on his shoulder against the farther side of the counter.

"He's right I couldn't judge anything on its health content."

"Sorry, you're right. Anyways doc, what do you say? It's on the house as long as you'll try it."

"Free food, sure. How long will it take?"

"About two hours, max."

"You go to lunch at your grandmother's Elli. We can be back here in two hours."

"That's very generous of you doctor. Thank you," she picked up her purse and walked around the counter.

"I can walk you-" Trent pulled the back of Kai's shirt before the ladies man could go after his nurse.

"Ahem. Your restaurant."

Kai's eyes lit up and he jumped on the man's back for a piggy-back ride. "No one's ever called it a restaurant before!"

"Get off of me Kai!" Trent threw the younger man on the ground.

"Hahaha, sorry doc. I thought you were playful, let's go!" The two marched off to Kai's snack shack in a hurry, Kai's ego was boosted a whole lot more now so he ran twice as fast. Kai pushed open the door and welcomed the doctor in.

"I've never been here before, it looks so different than I imagined."

"Well I decorated a little different today. Come in and sit down, I'll tell you when you can start eating." Kai went to the kitchen while Trent took a seat in the neatly dressed table.

Unlike the other tables, this one had a burgundy table cloth. All of the little beach ornaments such as the napkin holder, the umbrella toothpicks and the palm tree salt shakers were gone. This table had fancy cloth napkins and glass salt shakers. Trent guessed Kai was taking the new food seriously and wanted him to experience a professional atmosphere. But the candles Kai had just placed on the table were a bit much.

Just as Kai lit the last candle, the door to the _restaurant_ opened and two blondes walked in. Gray held the door open for Claire as she walked in waving.

"Hey Kai! Thanks for-" Claire stopped when she saw Trent sitting down at the table in front of her.

"Claire?" Trent stood up and smoothed his coat down.

The couple was just as surprised as the other but they smiled. Claire knew what her friends had done. Gray had woken her up early and taken her out to enjoy the first day of winter while Kai convinced Trent to come to his snack shack for whatever reason. The two had planned a dinner for Trent and her. She looked at Gray and Kai and smiled as if to say 'thank you'.

"Hey Trent," she hugged him and sat down as he pulled her chair out for her.

"So I'm guessing there are no new healthy additions to the menu Kai?" Trent chuckled.

"You got me doc. But I did make them as healthy as I could using natural ingredients. I'm sure you'll like them," Kai smiled sincerely and handed Trent and Claire a menu.

Gray stepped out of the back room dressed in a suit and holding a bottle of champagne. "I'll be your waiter tonight. Can I start you off with some champagne?"

"You guys are such dorks," Claire laughed and held out her glass.

"I don't know Claire. They do clean up nicely," Trent held out his own glass.

"Enjoy it tonight 'cause you'll never see us like this again," Gray stuck out his tongue.

"I made each of you a salad to start with. Have you chosen your main course?" Kai placed the plates in front of them and extended his hand for the menus.

"Pasta with chicken," the two said in unison. They looked at each other and began laughing. Kai took their menus and went into the kitchen to prepare their orders.

As they munched on their salads they began talking about their past lives and their current ones. They told each other jokes that were horrible yet they both found them funny just because it was from their soul mate. Gray brought forward their entrées as soft music flowed from the kitchen. It wasn't as fancy as the restaurants in the city and they certainly weren't dressed to impress but Trent and Claire still admired each other's radiance. It was their second date and not a bad one at that. Kai may have always been a big joker but he knew his trade well. Needless to say, their entire afternoon was splendid.

He took his last bite of the chocolate cake and glanced at his watch. Trent wiped his mouth and stood up startling Claire with the sudden scrape of his chair.

"You're leaving?" she asked chewing what was inside her mouth.

"Yes, I promised Elli I would be gone for two hours tops. I'm sorry for leaving so suddenly but I have my job to worry about. Thank you for the food Kai, it was delicious and I'd give it a ten on a healthy scale," Trent rushed to shake Kai's hand then Gray's.

Claire turned in her chair, "Oh okay."

"Good bye Claire," Trent leaned down towards her and kissed her forehead then speed walked to the door.

"Bye! Trent I-" Claire tried saying but the door had already closed. "I love you," she whispered sadly.

Gray glanced at Kai not knowing what to say but Kai could only shrug his shoulders. The silence throughout the place was awkward. Claire turned around to face them and smiled weakly.

Outside Trent walked past a flower bush whose flowers were still blooming even though it was winter and stopped. They looked familiar to the ones in the vase in Claire's house. The flowers reminded him of Claire's smile but then an image of her flashed before his eyes. He'd only glanced at her before he left in a hurry.

_I'm such a jerk! _He thought to himself. _We had a wonderful time together and at the end when it's getting good I storm off in a hurry and barely say anything to her. How could I have done that?_

With that in mind, Trent carefully selected the few flowers off the bush that still had life in them and ran back to the beach. The door of the restaurant opened and Trent walked up to Claire and kissed her.

"Sorry I left in such a rush Claire! That was very, well douchy of me. I love you and my job is important but that's no reason to leave you here without a proper goodbye. Please forgive me," Trent hugged her tight but felt no response to his hug. Her arms didn't automatically wrap themselves around his back. In fact, she felt a little colder than usual.

This was because Claire had frozen. Trent opened his eyes and spotted someone that hadn't been there before he left. Kai and Gray stood wide eyed and speechless. Two red eyes had just witnessed the entire scene. The older man, the doctor of this town, had just planted a big one on the sweet younger woman, the farmer.

"I ah…" Trent stood frozen not knowing what to do.

"So this is the lucky guy?" Popuri's lips parted into a wide smile. "Claire, you naughty girl you! Lusting over the big strong doctor over here!" she winked.

"Lusting?" Trent snapped out of his terror and looked down at Claire with his eyebrow up.

"Popuri! Shut up, I haven't been lusting after him. But yes, this is the guy," Claire sighed. Trent's shoulders drooped and his eager smile disappeared but of course, Claire hadn't noticed a thing. "I love you two Trent," she tiptoed and kissed her 'big strong doctor'.

"Look at you two, you look absolutely adorable. Don't worry I won't tell anyone. It isn't my story to tell anyway," Popuri smiled warmly.

"These are for you," Trent handed the blonde his flowers and blushed.

"Thank you Trent, I was looking for some flowers that survived the overnight blanket of snow."

"Ow my gwosh you two are sho cwute!" Popuri squealed in her baby talk.

"You better keep your mouth shut Popuri, these two will tell who they want to tell when they're ready okay?" Kai snapped.

"You don't have to be rude," Popuri pouted.

"Sorry. I just don't want you to blab anything okay? Claire's still just beginning this romance. Let her take the steps at her own pace, okay kiddo?" he patted Popuri's head and did what no one thought he was capable of, Kai kissed her on her cheek.

"O-okay," Popuri's face turned the color of her eyes.

Gray patted Kai's back. _You did it buddy_. Claire's heart warmed up, Kai had done it. He had chosen his girl. He'd taken his first step into his own romance.

Trent and Claire said their farewells and left the shack. Claire glanced at Kai and sent a telepathic message to him. _I'm proud of you Kai; you'll make Popuri so happy._

Kai smiled to let her know he'd received her message and nodded his head in thanks. Popuri said good bye as well and headed out the door. Then he looked to the door for the last time. _You're a great girl Claire, I'm sure you'll make Trent happy as well. It was difficult to give up on you and let him have you, but I think its for the best. I still love you Claire and I'll be here for you, but only as a friend. With your help I think I can open up to Popuri and have a happy life. I want your life to be happy too, even if it's not with me._

The two buddies sat on the boardwalk looking at the ocean at night. It was cold because of winter but they each had a thick coat on. Kai took out a photo and stared at it. Gray was too focused on the waves to look at him. It was a photograph of Kai and Claire after she'd stop crying at the park in the city. For that moment, she'd been a little happier after talking with him.

He stretched his arm out and gently let the wind carry the photograph away from his fingertips.

"What was that?" Gray asked.

"Just an old, forgotten memory."

"Kai, are you crying?" Gray looked at Kai worried.

"Maybe," Kai wiped the tears away and smiled, "Maybe tears of joy." He watched the picture slowly dip into the ocean and disappear beneath the waves. "About an old, forgotten memory."


	19. The Cure

Thank you for those of you who have reviewed my story! It helps a lot. Here's the next installment, enjoy!  
DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Harvest Moon or it's characters, they belong to Natsume. All I own is the story line and my green hair brush :D

* * *

Trent stepped out of his office and walked towards Elli's desk. He smiled at her and handed her some files. She gladly took them and opened the folder only to find that each paper was neatly in its place.

"You're awfully cheerful this morning Doctor. I almost never see you smile like that. And on top of that you put the papers where they belong!" she turned to place the folder on the shelf.

"Yes well it seems I have something to be happy about now. Actually, putting the papers in order is my way of asking you for a favor," he sipped at his coffee.

"I knew there was something behind the good behavior. What is it Doctor?"

Trent chuckled, "You know me too well Elli. I need to have a talk with Carter and I was wondering if you could take care of the clinic while I'm gone. I won't take too long."

"Of course I can. I'll call you if it's anything serious. Be careful, I don't want you two getting into trouble like always!" Elli warned.

"Carter's a pastor. _Mom,_" Trent smiled.

"He said himself he doesn't do many pastor-ly things. You two are still only twenty three year old men; I know what you're capable of! Don't forget the incident with Won."

"That was years ago Elli, I was barely even considered a Doctor then. Besides, no one likes Won," Trent shrugged and placed his mug on the counter.

"I'm just glad Carter can be himself around you," Elli smiled.

He smiled back and stepped out of the clinic. He greeted Zack on his way and walked to the church's large door and opened it. As he made his way on the long red carpet he looked around and saw no one was there.

"Hey Trent! What's up I don't see you around here anymore, Goddess bless you!" Carter greeted Trent and shook his hand.

"Hey Carter. How have you been? I want to talk to you in private."

"Sure thing, let's step into he confessional room. It's warmer in there."

Carter opened the door on the left and let Trent walked in first. They sat on a table in the far corner of the room.

"I'm glad you came. I need to talk to someone too! I don't mind being polite to everyone who comes in but I like talking to you without being so formal."

"Well, being a pastor must take it out of you."

"It does. Sucks that were considered adults now huh?"

"Definitely, but Elli still tells me to be careful with you. She doesn't forget the Won incident."

"That was fun but maybe a little mean. I've asked the Goddess to forgive me. But then again…"

"Who likes Won anyway?" Trent and Carter said at the same time and laughed.

"How is Elli, dressed up in her little maid costume?" Carter winked.

"It's a nurse outfit Carter, grow up. Sometimes I'm not sure you're cut out to be a pastor. She's doing fine and so is her grandmother."

"It's difficult; I'm still learning to keep thoughts to myself. I do pray for Ellen everyday. But my best friend makes it easier for me to let go once in a while, it's easy to be myself around you!"

"Same here. It's easy to talk to you and Claire," Trent blushed as he blurted out her name.

"Ah Claire! She's a cute one isn't she? Believe me Trent, if I weren't considered a pastor I'd-"

"I'm dating her," Trent stated bluntly before hearing any of Carter's dirty minded jokes.

"What?" Carter gasped and nearly fell out of his seat. "You're dating her? Wha- Trent! She's like a million years younger than you! She's like thirteen!"

"She's seventeen!" Trent corrected nervously, if Carter didn't approve who would?

"That's still six years younger than you! What will the town's people think?"

"What do you think?"

"Trent, buddy, you know you're like a brother to me. As a brother, I have to tell you that you are twenty three and even though that's not extremely old you are still a lot older than she is. She's not even an adult yet. She's still under eighteen."

"Does it matter that much? I mean, who cares what people in town think?"

"A lot. Dude, you're dating a minor. That's like a pedophile. Are you sure Manna doesn't know about this?"

"I'm 100% sure she doesn't know and I plan to keep it that way. Can you imagine the chaos it would cause if she found out?"

"Trent. The town, it's evolved and I'm sure a distance of age between a couple isn't that bad. However you are dating a minor and that's not right," Carter sighed and patted Trent's shoulder.

"What if she isn't seventeen?" Trent looked at a hole in the table and concentrated deep in thought.

"I thought you knew for sure she was seventeen. If she's older then that would be fine."

"I'll be right back. Carter," Trent paused and looked at the pastor who looked back at him with a concerned look on his face, "thank you and, I'll bring you back some food."

"That would be delightful. Good luck."

Trent rushed out of the confessional room and bumped into Cliff. The brown clothed man uttered a small "oof" and apologized quickly.

"Good afternoon Cliff, excuse me," Trent apologized and smoothed down his coat.

"Hello Doctor, what were you doing in the confessional?"

Trent stared at the younger man who had a zoned out, stupid looking face plastered on. "Confessing…" Trent scoffed with an annoyed tone at having to answer such an idiotic question. He carried on down the isle and heard Cliff great Carter.

"Good evening Cliff! Thank Goddess we have another day to bask in her beautiful earth."

Trent chuckled at how differently Carter sounded when he wasn't around. He pushed the large church door open and stepped outside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

His palms were sweaty from nervousness as he arrived at Claire's farm entrance. He looked around until he heard galloping from his left. It looked like the horse that Claire had fallen off at the horse race. Its feet stomped on the ground as it came closer to the doctor. Trent took a step back as Cyclone shook the earth below his large hooves and stopped in front of the man. The horse's rider looked down at him and smiled. Her tiny fists coiled tightly around the rope tied to the horse and her green overalls splattered with snow at her feet.

"Aren't you cold?" she asked climbing off Cyclone.

Trent looked at her, shorter than him now that she stepped on the ground. She did look very young. He was too afraid to ask her straight out how old she was.

"I have my coat on, it's warm enough."

"Well I have my sweater Ellen knitted for me and gloves from Kai; this scarf is a gift from Gray. And this beanie is from my brother," Claire smiled and hugged Trent. "What brings you here today's not Wednesday."

"I wanted to visit you; I closed the clinic for a few hours."

"That's so sweet! Oh hey, I have something for you." Claire took his hand and walked to her house.

She reached under her bed and pulled out a package in brown paper. She handed it to him and urged him to open it. In one swift movement Trent pulled the thick paper off and took out a sweater. It was pine green with a cow in the middle and the words "Got Milk?" in small letters on the bottom right corner.

"I ordered it a while back. I thought it was cute since you really like milk," she giggled. "Do you like it Trent?"

"I love it. It's adorable," He smiled and blushed. Placing the sweater on her bed he began to unbutton his medical coat and slipped it off. He took the sweater and put it on over his shirt. It was a perfect fit.

"You look so handsome in it!" Claire teased.

"Why thank you," Trent posed with one hand behind his head and the other on his hip. He laughed with Claire then hugged her. "Claire I love you. No matter what anyone says, no matter what they think I'll love you through thick and thin. I'm always here for you, and I'm not just telling you I love you and misusing the word. I mean it. I freakin' love you."

"I love you too Trent," Claire hugged him then stepped back. "Trent… you're twenty three right?"

"That's right," Claire must have been a mind reader because Trent's eyes widened when she said that.

"We're not that far apart are we?"

A deafening silence followed her question. In reality, Trent only took seven seconds to answer but to both it felt like an eternity.

"Six years… I wouldn't say it's too much," Trent's face looked worried.

"Six?" Claire looked confused. "We're four years apart. Trent, I'm nineteen."

"Thomas told me you were seventeen!"

"That's what I told him so he'd give me the farm faster. I turned nineteen this summer, when Jack came to town. I'm nineteen!"

"You're nineteen!" Trent gasped. "You're nineteen. Nineteen!" he laughed and hugged Claire really tight.

"You thought I was seventeen?" Claire laughed hysterically.

They laughed uncontrollably at their foolishness. Finally they stopped and Trent kissed Claire's forehead.

"Claire, I'd like to keep my promise to visit the pond if you'll allow me."

"What promise?"

"I promised to take you to the pond when it froze over."

"Oh that time when we had our picnic. I'd love to go!"

Claire led the way out of their house and locked it. They crunched soft snow under their feet as they made their way to the opening to the forest. The forest seemed almost magical covered in white snow. It sparkled in the sun that was high above their heads now. It was Trent's turn to lead the way as they held hands. He took her to the place where they had fallen asleep after eating in autumn.

The opening looked like a scene out of a fairy tale. The trees covered in thick, white snow. The ground untouched by man or animal and the blanket of snow reflected the sun's rays. Claire looked at the lake and saw the ice thick and seemingly sturdy, ready for anyone to step on it and have the time of their life. She remembered Trent told her no one thought it was safe to step on it but she couldn't care less. Danger was her middle name and she loved laughing in its face.

"Claire, wait a minute are you sure you want to cross? Where will you even go, you can't just stand on the ice!"

"Look over there!" she pointed at a boulder far away from them. "That cave, you said no one's ever been in there right? You promised me you'd come with me and we'd be the first to find out what's inside!"

"Okay let's go, but I'm going first." He stepped in front of the edge and tapped his foot on the ice.

"None of that! We're going together or I'm going alone!" she demanded.

With that being said, they held hands and cautiously stepped on the ice. Claire let out a scream and Trent pulled her into his chest and pushed them both to the ground in one swift move. He opened his eyes and heard Claire laughing then he looked at the ice and noticed no cracks. He'd been fooled.

"You should have seen your face! It was priceless," she yelled between gasps of laughter.

"Claire! Don't do that you scared the crap out of me!" he yelled angrily.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she whined as he pulled her ear. "I just wanted to have some fun with you. Look," Claire pounded on the ice with her fist, "sturdy. Now will you come?"

"Okay but be careful."

They took a step onto the ice and felt pretty safe. The water under them looked far away which was a good sign. If the water was barely visible it meant the ice was pretty thick. She may have acted bravely but she wouldn't let go of Trent's hand just yet. They were nearing the edge of the cave now and Trent took a step forward to step on the dry land. Claire stepped forward and felt the ice underneath her crumble.

"Ah!"

"Claire!"

Her foot suddenly sunk down into the ice cold water and her grip on Trent's hand tightened. The cold water soaked her pant leg and she felt a chill immediately go up her spine. She let out a scream and Trent wrapped his arms around her waist quickly and pulled her out without effort. He was very strong and easily took her out of the water's ice cold teeth. She pulled at his sweater and crawled her way up to his neck and hugged him tightly as he pulled them down to the ground.

"It's okay Claire, I've got you."

She cried into his shoulder and gripped his sweater. He was shocked Claire was acting like this, she never held on to him so tightly. Trent heard her sobs and realized she was terrified of drowning. Because of this, he held her in his arms as he hugged her firmly. He too felt tears begin to form in his eyes as he felt her pain.

"Trent… Trent I was so scared."

"I know Claire. Shhh."

"I thought I'd die. Trent, I thought I would never see you again."

"Claire." If it was possible, he hugged Claire even tighter.

They stayed like that for a few more minutes until Trent pulled away slowly and looked Claire in the eye.

"Are you okay now?" he smiled.

"Yes. Thank you Trent I owe you my life."

"You don't owe me anything Claire. I love you and I would die for you."

She smiled and wiped the tears off her face. They both looked at each other then at the cave around them. For the first time, they saw crystals and gems twinkling around them. The ceiling looked like the night sky with millions of stars winking back at them. Her own blue gem-like eyes grew wide like saucers.

"Look at everything! There are so many jewels in here! I can use these to make it through winter if I ship enough. This is wonderful, Trent do you know what this means?"

"You'll never go hungry again?" he joked.

"I won't need to worry about money during the winter season! I'll have more than enough money with these gems. You helped me find this place!"

"We both found it. If it hadn't been for your curiosity, I wouldn't have mentioned this cave."

"Trent! It's so magical here. Look at everything its spectacular!" she couldn't stop smiling.

"I'm so happy for you!" Trent smiled widely as well and held her hand.

"And thank you again for saving my life. I'm terrified of drowning. When I was young, I drowned in the lake my parents took Jack and me to. They pulled me out safely but I've been terrified of drowning ever since, especially in ice cold water. I mean, I can swim of course but it caught me by surprise and it was so cold."

"Don't be afraid. As long as I'm around you won't have to drown because I'll protect you."

"Thanks," she smiled and kissed him.

"Do you want to collect some gems and head back? I need to return to the clinic or Elli will get mad at me."

"Sure, I'll just take the ones that are already on the floor and come back tomorrow with my hammer."

After collecting as many gems Claire could carry in her backpack, the two headed back on the path to the farm.

"Hey Trent, look over there!" Claire scurried behind a bush with her raven haired doctor in tow.

"Well, what do we have here? A lasting moon drop flower." Trent smiled picking it out of the ground.

"It's beautiful," she gazed at it in awe as his hands slipped the precious item in her own tinier hands. They stood up and looked at it for a few more seconds.

"It suits you. My beautiful flower," he leaned in to kiss her. Claire took a step back not wanting to crush the bud in their embrace.

Being as clumsy as she was, her foot sunk in the snow deeper than she had expected. With her right foot in the snow she lost her balance and sent her left leg in the air to tangle with Trent's and plop both of them on the ground with a slush. Trent opened his eyes slowly and groaned. He had expected to feel the cold of the snow but instead felt heat underneath his stomach.

"You're heavier than you look," an angelic voice called out from under him. Looking down the doctor saw his girlfriend sprawled on her back.

"It's muscle, dork." He closed the space between them and kissed Claire.

The kiss sent a spark through both of them. Suddenly, the snow didn't feel so cold anymore. Claire put her hands on the doctor's face to bring him closer. With every passing second, the kiss turned more passionate. Their faces were hot and red as they gasped for air. As quickly as they parted they closed the gap once again to share long kisses and short kisses that filled their stomachs with whirling butterflies. Trent's fingers tangled in her golden hair as they rolled back and forth on the snow covered ground.

"Claire," Trent gasped.

"Wait. Trent, stop. Someone could see us," she warned before going in to kiss him again.

"You're right. Come on," he picked himself up on his hands and knees and chuckled. "We've never been in this position."

"Don't smirk like that," Claire blushed and looked away.

"Why?" he didn't wipe the sneer of his face as he leaned down to leave a kiss on her neck.

"'Cause it's irresistible," she confessed. He finally stood up and extended his hand to help her up.

"Let's go."

"Hey, look. You can barely see it with all of this snow!" Claire picked up what looked like the grass she collected every other season but this one was white. Trent's eyes widened.

"Let me see that," he took it out of Claire's hands a bit rudely. "Oh my Goddess! Claire, do you know what this is?"

"White grass..." she said uninterested.

"I've been looking for this ever since I found out about Lillia and Ellen's disease! This is the rarest grass there is. White grass is the last ingredient I need for the cure!" Claire had never seen Trent's face so lit up and excited in the time she had been with him.

This must be something very important to him. Sure, Trent was her boyfriend and a sweet one at that, but he had a job which he loved. They looked around for more grass and found a couple more pieces and ran all the way to the clinic, huge smiles plastered on their faces. The laughter that escaped their throats rang through out the town and a few townsfolk looked out their windows. All they caught was a blur of white and green. Trent had switched the special sweater to his coat so no one would wonder where he had gotten it and Claire was wearing her green overalls.

As soon as they barged into the clinic, Trent told Elli she was excused and he closed the place. Although she was completely confused Elli bowed and left. She was used to being left out and never understanding a single thing so it didn't matter.

They began crushing each ingredient on the list Trent had written. Claire stepped back to observe him working. He looked so into his work. His hand went to a bottle to pick out a bit of that, then to another container to add a couple drops of this, his face was serious and concentrated. Everything he was doing was so important and interesting. Trent truly looked like a doctor even though he was so young. He was an extremely intelligent man. There were equations and measurements Claire couldn't even begin to understand written on the note pad.

"I'm done!" he finally smiled after minutes of keeping a straight face. He held up the bottle of light blue liquid.

"You're amazing Trent."

"Well, it's my job. I try. Thanks," he blushed. "I couldn't have done it without you. Shall we go to Lillia's?"

"Do you think we could stop to drop off the gems? They're getting kinda heavy," she shifted the weight of her rucksack on her back.

"Sure, let's go." Trent slipped the rucksack off of her and swung it over his shoulder.

"You're strong!"

"I work out."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

The blonde deposited every gem into the shipping bin with a huge smile on her face knowing she would finally have enough money to buy that house expansion and extra furnishing for her home.

"Okay, this load's off my back so now let's go cure Lillia!" Claire giggled. "Trent," she stopped at the fence of her farm.

"Yes Claire?" he noticed she looked at the ground. Claire never looked down at her shoes or at the ground unless she was sad or embarrassed.

"Do you think that will really cure Lillia?" she finally muttered.

"I know it will." He held up the bottle and squeezed the needle in his pocket. "The problem is in her legs. An old medical professor had found the cure a long time ago. More people had the condition back then, but with the cure most were fine. Ellen was one of the unfortunate ones who did not receive the medicine and Lillia's case is rare. The white grass you found is the 'flower' Rod went searching for. Now that we found it, we have the cure as well." He smiled to let Claire know things were in the right hands.

"Hopefully Rod can come back now," Claire's mouth slowly curled up into a smile. She looked up at Trent lovingly and said, "You're so smart Trent, I'm proud of you."

Trent blushed and chuckled. They continued walking in the cold snow and Trent's fist knocked gently at the Poultry Farm's door. A pink haired maiden with large red eyes poked her head out just a bit. She smiled recognizing the couple and greeted them.

"Claire!" Popuri hugged her best friend and curtsied at Trent, "Doctor."

"Ms. Popuri," Trent nodded politely. He noticed her wink and blushed knowing that she knew the situation between him and the blonde, now chatting with Rick.

_Wait what?_ Trent did a double-take. _Why is Claire talking with Rick? He's blushing so hard he looks like a tomato! If he tries anything with her I'll kick his ass!_

After looking at the direction of the doctor's intense stare Popuri snapped Trent back to reality, "Don't worry. He's too shy to try anything."

"Popuri, is someone else at the door?" Lillia's voice came from behind the opened door that Trent was still standing next to.

"Hello Lillia," Trent smiled. He stepped into the room and Popuri closed the door.

"Oh my! Well this is odd," Lillia said surprised.

"I know, you don't have a check up scheduled today and you didn't call but-"

"No, not that. Look at you," Lillia's comment made the three teenagers turn and listen.

"Your hair is combed back, you're dressed so nicely and you're smiling! Who's the girl Doc?"

"Ah... uh... no... ah," now it was Trent's turn to turn red as a tomato.

The girls' giggles made him stiff and sweaty. Lillia was a keen observer.

Rick gawked at Claire bewildered. Then his sister glanced and smiled her mischievous smile at the blonde sitting next to him. Claire was smiling almost lovingly at the doctor's back. What was going on? Rick had inherited his mother's intelligence and he knew something wasn't right here.

"Claire, what's your relationship with the doctor?" he whispered.

"What? He's just the town doctor. He helped me out a lot when I was sick so I guess you could say we are somewhat friends," she tried hiding the blush creeping up on her face. She thanked Goddess her voice hadn't cracked in the middle of her sentence.

"N-no one. Th-there isn't a g-girl," Trent stuttered but regained his composure quickly. "But I have news."

"Oh yes?" Lillia sighed giving up on teasing the doctor.

"I have the cure."

"What?" Lillia's face became serious.

"I - Claire found the white grass I needed," he held up the bottle.

The woman found herself speechless and covered her mouth in amazement. The room grew silent as Lillia stared at the sparkling liquid that would be her cure. Tears streamed out of the corner of her eyes. She began crying tears of joy. Popuri ran to hug her mother with tears in her own eyes. It took all of Rick's power to keep from crying as he ran to hug her too.

"Thank you. Thank you so much doctor," Lillia cried after Trent had injected the fluid into both of her legs.

"Don't thank me. Claire found the white grass in the forest."

"Thank you Claire. You two are wonderful," she smiled lovingly.

"Try it out Lillia," Claire encouraged, "Try walking." Now, even Claire was crying as the woman stood up to try her newly regained strength.

Lillia stood up and took slow steps. A wide smile spread across her lips. She felt no pain, no suffering and she was not tired. Everyone walked outside and she began walking faster out of their farm. She walked faster and faster until she felt her hair blowing behind her in the winter wind. Lillia couldn't believe it. She was running! After so many years of watching other people around her run freely she could sprint now too. Lillia was also weak from her illness and could not stay out if it was too cold, now she seemed as fine as ever. Rick looked to Popuri worried and ran after his mother in case something nodded at her brother and turned to Claire and Trent and laughed. Tears of joy still streamed down her face while she began running after her mother. The couple turned to each other and smiled happily as they coiled their pinkies together.

His hair blew across his face and Rick had to shake his head to move the hair out of his eyes. When his head flipped he saw the doctor and his crush running side by side. Something was definitely strange about the two.

Lillia finally arrived at the supermarket and threw the door open to find her best friend. A woman with light brown hair looked at Lillia with her eyes wide.

"Sasha! Sasha I'm running!" Lillia cried, running to her best friend for a hug.

"Lillia, oh my Goddess! How is this possible? It's wonderful!" Sasha gasped.

"The doctor cured me! I can run!"

Sasha's husband and owner of the supermarket, Jeff came closer to them to see his old friend's recovery. The three adults talked and thanked both Trent and Claire many times. After being praised so much, the heroes said goodbye and headed to Ellen's house to cure her as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Many tears were exchanged once again between Elli the nurse, her grandmother Ellen and a very confused but sentimental Stu. Elli's little brother could barely understand what was going on but he still cried at seeing his grandmother stand up for the first time. Elli and her brother Stu hugged Trent and his helper Claire and thanked them.

"Well I think I should go. Elli, Ellen, Stu." Trent bowed and made his way to the church.

Five minutes later Claire also said goodbye and left. She was feeling elated and decided to go pray to the Goddess and thank her for such a miraculous and blessed day. She pushed open the door of the church and heard the pastor's voice.

"Nineteen! That's great Trent!"

"Good evening pastor," Claire giggled.

"Claire! Good evening," Carter blushed.

"Hey, I hoped you would follow me here. This is Carter, he's my best friend." Trent introduced the two.

"I'm going to pray for a while then I'm going home doctor."

"It's fine sweetie. He knows."

"Well, I'm still praying," Claire excused herself and sat down quietly. A few minutes later she got back up and called out to the two men. "Trent, I'm leaving now. Good bye Carter!"

"Let's see her out," Carter suggested and followed Trent and Claire to the outside of the church.

A few snowflakes trickled down from the force of the large door closing and landed on Claire's nose.

"The trees still look healthy," Claire noticed, rubbing the cold off her nose.

"Typical farmer," Trent teased.

"She's right, Mother Nature sure is beautiful."

"Typical Pastor," the doctor and the farmer said in unison.

Suddenly, a flash of bright blue landed on the fence in front of the trio. A blue bird ruffled its feathers and chirped hello to the humans.

"Wow, it's so pretty!" Claire chimed. "Look at its blue feathers!"

Carter and Trent shared a glance and Trent blushed. Carter leaned down to be at head level with Claire. He inched in close to her face, too close for her liking. The doctor's face reddened harder at his friend's next words.

"Do you like blue feathers Claire?"


	20. I Do

The exciting conclusion of Spaces, formally known as "The Locket Slot" then "It's Too hard To Love You" then "No One Will Ever Love You Like I Do"! I've changed the name a lot, what are you gonna do?

First of all I want to say thank you to all of you who have followed my story and those of you who have reviewed it. My viewers are the ones who kept me going and writing this. After months of the last publication with chapter 19 I am finally proud to present to you chapter 20, the conclusion to this Trent and Claire harvestmoon fanfiction.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Harvest Moon or any of its characters. All I own is the story line.

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"I was just talking about how soft the feathers looked. It's actually quite strange that a blue bird is out and about in winter," the blonde responded.

"Would you say you want a blue feather?" Carter pushed. Trent stepped forward but the pastor raised his hand to hold him back.

"No, of course not. It would be horrible if we plucked one of its feathers off!" she exclaimed with that voice that girls used when expressing concern for something.

Carter chuckled, "You haven't been here that long have you?" He finally stood up and stepped away from Claire and ruffled her hair.

"Nope. And that's one of the reasons you people cease to amaze me. You're always asking about the strangest things. I guess a blue feather has a lot to do with you guys here in Mineral Town," she shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

"Oh, more than you know. Isn't that right Trent?" Carter slung his arm around his friend's shoulder and shook him. The doctor turned bright red.

"Well, as much as I would love to keep talking to you to boys about random things, I have to head home now. It's been a long day." She checked her watch it read 6:40. "Oh cool! It's past five, I have to run home and check how much I got from the gems."

Carter and Trent watched the farmer run to her farm with a huge grin on her face. Doctor sighed, she was just the most amazing person he could have ever come to know. And she was his. And hours ago she had helped him cure the two sickest people in Mineral Town. His career satisfied him but now he had a love life and both were perfectly intact.

"You're a lucky guy Trent. I can tell she's a great woman," his best friend interrupted his thoughts.

"Woman?" Trent had never thought of Claire as a woman.

"Of course Trent, she is nineteen. Her mental capacity is clearly at its woman stage and her body has matured into that of a fine woman as well."

Trent made a face at the pastor.

"I don't mean it _that_ way. All I'm saying is that you are pretty much blind if you can't see it Trent."

"Of course I see it. I just never realized it I preferred to ignore it until now."

Carter chuckled and excused himself. Trent went back to his own bed to sleep.

The next few days Claire and Trent saw very little of each other. He was busy answering phone calls from reporters asking about his recent discovery. The only time he could see his girlfriend was when she flashed by his window as she ran errands around town. She was equally swamped. Recently, Claire had figured out the gems didn't sell for much so she went around town running errands for the townsfolk in order to make a buck or two.

Finally, two weeks later Trent received a call.

"Ugh, another reporter?" he picked up the phone and in an irritated tone answered, "What is it now?"

"Now is that a way to answer your girlfriend?" Claire's voice sparkled from the other side of the phone.

"Ah, Claire. Forgive me, I've been getting a lot of annoying calls. This is strange, since when do you have a telephone?"

"My brother gave this cell phone to me after he lost me in the city."

"Ah. How is Jack?"

"He's doin' alright. Same play boy as always. Last time I heard from him he'd just slept and dumped a girl named Muffy."

"Sounds like another Kai?" Trent chuckled. He listened to Claire go on about her brother. He tried listening but he couldn't pay attention. After all the calls from unknown voices he missed Claire's voice. It trickled into his ear and ran through his body like some sort of soothing elixir.

"Trent, we're throwing Gray a surprise party tomorrow at the Inn for his birthday," Claire interrupted his daydreaming.

"It's still only the sixth of Winter?" Trent gasped.

"Yeah – wait, how did you know his birthday was on the sixth? Other than me saying so of course."

"His medical records."

"Oh. Well, you're invited to come but just warning you there will probably just be the guys and girls from town."

"Thanks for the invitation but it's not really my thing. I'm older and we need to not arouse suspicion towards us."

"Yeah okay." Trent could almost hear Claire frown.

"Claire?" he asked her in an encouraging tone.

"Mhm?"

"I love you."

"I love you too Trent," she sighed happily. "Well, that was it. I guess I'll leave you to your studies."

"Goodbye sweetie," as soon as the words left his mouth, Trent wondered if he should have not said them. His face blushed dark red.

"Bye," Claire hung up abruptly.

That had been the first time either one of them had used a pet name or any name other than theirs for that matter. It felt right though.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

"Good evening Mr. Saibara!" Claire chimed as she walked into the blacksmith's shop.

"Good evening Claire, what brings you here?" he smiled. That was unusual.

"I came to pick up my best friend!" she grinned and turned to Gray who was sweating over a hot metal as he pounded it with a hammer. "Wow Gray, invite Mary over here more often and she'll jump on you so fast you won't even see her coming!"

Gray's face turned bright red like the furnace behind him. He glanced towards his Grandfather who looked at him suspiciously.

"Well, what do you know? Grandpa it's one now so I think I'm gonna get going. The tools will cool down, I'll finish on Friday, Claire's got an important errand to run so I gotta go now see ya!" Gray pushed Claire out of the shop quickly and shoved her once they were outside.

"Hey, what was that for?" Claire stumbled back on her feet.

"He doesn't know I like Mary! And what was with the jump on you comment?"

"Grayyy, you're nineteen now." She smiled deviously elbowing him in the ribs.

"Stupid," he chuckled and ruffled her hair. "So what did you need me for?"

"I'm super famished," she made a fainting pose with her hand on her forehead, "And you got money, wanna buy me lunch?"

"I feel so used." He held his heart as if wounded, "But I guess I can buy you a sandwich." They began walking toward the Inn and Claire gasped.

"A sandwich? That's all I mean to you? Not a big juicy steak? We're a sandwich friendship?" she made the same wounded gesture as he had before and laughed.

Finally, Claire pulled the doors of the Inn wide open and pushed Gray inside. Many voices screamed "Happy Birthday!" as a poster dropped down from the ceiling that read the same. The younger population of Mineral Town was standing and congratulating Gray. Claire smiled brightly at Gray's expression. He picked her up and hugged her tight.

"You planned this all along?" he asked everyone smiling. He put Claire down and went to thank everyone else, but not without ruffling her hair again. She sat down at the nearest table and smiled with an accomplished feeling. Looking up, she saw Kai sitting down next to her.

"Good job. Did he expect it?" he asked her without necessarily looking down at her.

"Didn't have a clue." She replied, sipping at a glass of wine.

"I've never seen him this happy before. You've achieved something miraculous Claire." He noticed Claire looking at him, confusion written on her face. "Way before you arrived, he was hopelessly miserable. Never smiled, never talked, he was so anti-social. He took my jokes seriously and personally, now he has great comebacks."

They sat in silence for a few seconds.

"You know how you smile without ever feeling any real reason to smile? And then suddenly there is a reason, and you can't stop smiling that genuine smile? Not many people can tell the difference in Gray, mostly because he almost never smiles. But, I can. I've never seen him smile with that much sincerity as today. You're truly his best friend Claire."

"He has told me," she looked down into her wine glass contently.

"After me of course."

She shoved Kai playfully and scoffed.

"Well, I'm gonna go hang out with Popuri for a while. I'll see you later?"

"Inn's not that big," Claire smirked. He grinned in response.

She turned back to see the floor. Ann happily served the food, Karen was attached to the wine bottle in front of her, and Popuri for some odd reason wasn't clinging to Kai's arm. In fact, she wasn't more than a foot close to him. She noticed Mary blushing and sitting down then glanced at the stair case and caught Gray walking towards it. Claire ran up to him and blocked his path.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Claire, I just messed up with Mary. Big time!" he cried, an embarrassed look on his face.

"By the looks of it, she wasn't too disturbed. Now, go over there, dance with her for a while – I'll put on some slow dance music – then confess your feelings."

"What? Are you joking? I can't do that!"

"Yes you can. Gray, I believe in you. Come on. Trust me; it's going to be amazing."

"How do you know?"

"Trent did it. It was the best moment ever." She turned him around and pushed him forward.

Gray sighed and walked slowly towards the cute librarian. Claire ran to the music device hooked up to large speakers, found a nice slow song and selected it. Gray stretched his hand out to Mary. She blushed surprised and took it; they strolled onto the middle of the make-shift dance floor and began dancing. Everyone stepped back to give them space. As the song came to an end, everything quieted down; Gray took a deep breath and glanced at Claire. She smiled and nodded. He looked into Mary's eyes and knew he would not regret a second of this moment.

"Mary, I like you. And, hoping that you like me back, I'd like to ask you to be my girlfriend."

The librarian stared up at him through her glasses, she blushed and grinned from ear to ear, "Of course I'll be your girlfriend!" she jumped up and hugged him.

The room that'd been so quiet erupted in a series of "Yay's" and "Woohoo's" and other congratulatory sounds.

As the party winded down, everyone went home and left Ann, Cliff, Claire, Kai and Gray at the Inn. Cliff and Ann had excused themselves to go to bed. The other three sat down at a table to chat. Gray couldn't stop smiling and Kai teased him about it.

"What about you? You finally settled down with Popuri." Gray poked back.

"Yup. None of us are single anymore." Kai sat back in his chair.

"I'm glad. And we're all happy, when did you formally ask her?" Claire asked Kai.

"The day after we set up a lunch for you and Doc, I got up early and made strawberry cheesecake. I wrapped it in a box and picked some flowers from the bushes and walked to her house. I knocked on the door; Rick wouldn't let me in until Lillia had to push him aside. We all sat down and I told them that I was done with my life as a player, I apologized for ever hurting Popuri emotionally and I properly asked her mother if I could be her boyfriend. Even Rick calmed down and accepted my apology. I took Popuri up to the summit and told her I really wanted to be hers and only hers. I told her I would always love her and never leave her side, she stayed quiet and we sat in peace for a while. It was… nice."

Claire sat in awe, she was curious why Popuri hadn't burst in to tears.

"You made out, didn't you?" Gray asked straight-faced.

"You bet we did," Kai laughed and high fived Gray. Claire gasped and scolded them both. Eventually the three sat laughing until each made their way to their beds and fell asleep with smiles on their faces.

On Wednesday the next week, Trent decided to have lunch with his friend Carter at the church. He stepped inside the confessional room and sat down. Carter looked at him concerned.

"You've brought all of this amazing food yet you look stressed out. What's wrong?" Carter asked his friend concerned.

"I've been thinking about Claire recently. Do I really deserve her? Am I too old?" Trent sighed.

"You are a great man Trent; of course you deserve someone as great as you. And why after all this time are you, again, thinking about the age difference?"

"Last week she called me and invited me to a surprise birthday party they were throwing for Gray. I told her it wasn't my sort of thing, but come on Carter you know it is! But I can't go because they're all younger than me. I don't know how much longer I can keep our relationship a secret. It kills me to know she's so close yet I can't go see her. I can't even hug my own girlfriend Carter!" tears nearly fell out of the doctor's eyes.

The two shared a moment of silence until Carter finally looked up from his glass of water.

"You love her right?"

"Of course, why would you ask such a question?"

"Then why are you sitting here with me while you could go now and remind her?" the pastor smiled politely and added, "We've been here a while and it's almost night time, don't do anything you'll regret."

"What do you mean?" Trent's eyebrow lifted.

"You're not a kid anymore. You can figure it out."

The doc's face flushed as he realized what his friend meant and pictured it in his mind. He sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets. The time was now seven as he made his way down the street his clinic was located on then turned left and continued until his foot made contact with the soft grass surrounding Claire's farm.

A knocking sound startled Claire while she was cooking. She turned down the flame and walked over to the door, it took her longer than usual to answer it this time. To her surprise, her boyfriend stood there smiling sweetly. She let him in asking if he wanted to join her for dinner. Claire finished cooking her stew and served two bowls to set on the table. Once they were finished he offered to wash the dishes since she had cooked the meal. Claire plopped herself down on her couch and glanced at the clock several times.

"It's a lovely clock," Trent disturbed Claire's thoughts.

"Sorry, it's just that it's almost nine," she got up and walked to her room and closed the door.

He finished drying the last dish and set it on top of the pile. _Why is she acting so distant? We've had a great time recently, I can't imagine doing anything wrong. Let's see,_ he began making a mental list of the last couple of weeks to see if he had done anything that would upset Claire. _I asked her to go to the pond, we collected lots of gems, and then we walked to her farm. No wait, before getting to her farm we found the white grass and before that we rolled around in the snow._ He blushed remembering the pleasant event. As soon as the red crept up on his face it drained away. _Oh no. Is she disturbed by what we did? Did we fool around too much, too soon? But I'm a guy and she's a girl it's natural especially at this age. Is that the problem? The age?_

Claire stepped out of her room and turned to him. "Trent could you go outside?"

His eyes widened and an aching pain filled his chest. "S-sure."

"Can you get me some honey from the tree please?" she asked him without smiling.

"Of course," he ducked out of the house and headed to the tree. Carefully, Trent extracted the honey from the honeycomb and placed it in the canister she had given him. He walked to the house holding tears back. That was weird; the lights had been turned off. Trent opened the door slowly.

"SURPRISE!" a deafening series of voices screamed out at him. The lights flicked to reveal the room filled with people holding up balloons and 'Congrats' signs.

A lot of people where present; Elli, Carter, Kai, Popuri, Mary, Ann, Cliff, Gray, and Rick all smiled at him. He looked around for a strand of golden hair but found none in sight.

"Over here Doctor!" he heard that sweet angelic voice call to him from the kitchen. "Surprise! We threw you a party to celebrate your recent discovery!" Claire walked in from the kitchen carrying a large cake.

The girls cleared the table that had already been set up with chips, dip and other snacks to make room for the huge cake. Trent couldn't have been more surprised. _This _was why she'd been acting so distant around nine, why she asked him to leave and why she took longer than usual to open the door. The people attending the party must have been there and needed time to hide in her room. He smiled and thanked everyone.

The teens took their turns walking up to him and talking. To his surprise, everyone was so nice and it felt like they were all the same age. For that brief moment of happiness, age didn't matter. He began to wonder if everything would be the same if his secret relationship with Claire were to be revealed. He let his mind wander and those pesky, naughty thoughts returned to his mind. He needed to constantly shake them away before the red crept on his face.

"Everyone can I have your attention please?" the tired party goers looked at Claire. "I want to say thank you to everyone for coming and to congratulate Doctor for his discovery and many articles in newspapers and magazines. As you can all see, it's getting pretty late and it's a week day, we should all go to bed and rest for tomorrow's work." She smiled when everyone agreed peacefully. They filed out, congratulating Trent and saying goodbye and thanks to Claire for her party. Finally everyone had left.

Trent looked at Claire and picked her up. "You are amazing."

"Well, I try." She smiled and kissed him.

"And I," he leaned his hand on the table and posed as if he were in a magazine, "am apparently in magazines now." Just as the two began to laugh, the weight Trent was putting on one side of the table caused it to collapse. The wine spilled out of the glasses and stained Trent's shirt.

"Oh no!" Claire cried and grabbed napkins to dab the wine off. She noticed she was dabbing his chest and felt his toned body even through the napkins and his shirt. She blushed.

"How about we get the table up and clean up the mess first." he offered not noticing her blush.

Claire agreed and the two spent twenty minutes cleaning up the food and drink from the table. He heard Claire laugh all of a sudden.

"What's so funny?"

"And you, are apparently the biggest klutz now." She said leaning on the table, mocking him. He laughed and threw his rag at her. She caught it before it hit her face and took it to the kitchen to wash off. Finally they were finished.

Claire walked up to Trent. "We should probably get that shirt off of you before you get sick." She began to unbutton the top of his shirt when Trent spoke up.

"I'm not wearing anything underneath."

"Oh." Claire looked away. "Uhm, if you don't mind I still think you should take it –"

Out of no where, a thunder clap boomed across the sky. Claire jumped and screamed. When she opened her eyes she realized she'd glomped Trent in the process.

"Should I sleep here tonight to keep you company?"

"Please."

Claire had told Trent that she had recurring dreams where it rained so much that her house became flooded with ice cold water and she couldn't escape. It was an impossible dream but it still terrified her, as any nightmare would.

They turned the lights off and entered Claire's room. She turned to her dresser and took out her night gown. Excusing her self to the bathroom to change, she closed the door to leave Trent to changing as well. When she stepped back inside Trent was already in her bed.

"I hope I'm not being too intrusive, I can sleep on the floor." He said sitting up. The bed sheet slipped off his shoulder to reveal his bare chest. He'd discarded the shirt and left it on the night stand along with his belt.

She shook her head and scurried to the other side of the bed to settle in. The rain was coming down harder now and the thunder raged on but the image of Trent's body distracted Claire from the fright. She turned off the lamp and snuggled into her bed. Sensing his presence, Claire shifted next to him. He wrapped his arm around her and kissed her forehead.

"You look lovely in your night gown." She heard his voice from above her head.

"Thank you. What are you wearing?"

"My pants." He held her closer. She set her head next to his chest and put her hand on it as well. They slept in this position for the rest of the night.

In the morning the two were startled by a knock at the door. Claire never closed her door, what was the point if she lived in Mineral Town? Safety was one of the many reasons she loved this place. Unfortunately, the invasion of her privacy was in exchange for safety. The door opened and someone stepped inside. Claire's room was enclosed and therefore had its own door. Trent and Claire heard footsteps walking towards the room, the knob turned and hat covered head poked in, under it appeared a bandana covered head.

"Hey Claire!" Kai and Gray grinned in unison until they opened their eyes.

"Ah!" Gray went red in the face, "Sorry for intruding, I'll just wait outside!" But Kai on the other hand, opened the door wider against Gray's pleads.

"What did I say?" he stormed over to Trent, grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him on the ground violently. "Is this what you wanted? Huh? To mess around with her? This was your plan all along, get close to the cute little farmer girl then bang her and be done with her! You make me sick!"

"What! No, of course not! I love Claire, she's my whole world. I would never hurt her like that! I didn't bang her Kai!" Trent protested and stood.

"Bullshit!" Kai threw his fist at Trent.

In a flash, Trent had dodged out of the way, gripped Kai's fist and pushed his arms behind his back. Kai stood defeated and dumbfounded.

"Alright, let me go!" he pleaded.

"How many times do I have to tell you, I will never hurt Claire. I spilled wine on my shirt so I had to take it off. Once we finished cleaning it had started to rain. She was scared so I stayed with her. Is that enough of an explanation for you?" Trent released Kai with a shove.

He stumbled forward and rubbed his arms. Kai looked around and finally sighed, "Sorry Trent. She's a special girl and I should trust you to treat her like one."

After moments of silence Claire cleared her throat, "Well, since we're all here, I'll go make some breakfast for all of us." She stepped into the kitchen followed by her friends.

Gray helped blondie in the kitchen and came back with three cups of coffee. As the guys sipped their coffee silently Gray thought about how unfairly Kai treated Doctor. Then, an idea popped into his head.

"You know," he spoke up, catching everyone's attention, "Kai, you've never told Doctor here how you and Claire met."

Coffee spit out of Kai's mouth as he choked. "Ah, that's not really an interesting story." He blushed. Both Kai and Claire looked at Gray as if he were crazy.

"No no, it is. After all, you seem to be very worried about Claire's _sexual_ safety. And it _is_ a funny story."

Claire facepalmed in the kitchen.

"Really?" after noticing Claire's expression the doctor shifted in his seat and locked eyes with Kai.

"I don't think the doctor wants to hear about it, it's silly is all it is. A man of his intelligence and wisdom wouldn't like to hear such a ridiculous story."

"Oh pray tell."

"Well you see, I took Claire-" Gray began.

"Shut up Gray," Kai grunted threw gritted teeth.

"To meet my best friend, Kai in the summer. And silly old Claire bumped into him. Of course, being as clumsy as she is Claire landed on top of him. On top of his 'excitement zone' to be exact. And well, Kai being his usual ladies man-self charmed her 'till she was red as a tomato. One thing led to another and his 'zone' stood up, which made blondie here, shoot up like a rocket." Gray chuckled at the last part.

"Ahahahahahah. Is that what you were worried about Kai?" Trent laughed.

"You're not angry?" Kai asked in disbelief.

"Why would I be? I've been eighteen before, I know how it is. And Claire, excuse me if this offends you babe, is hot so how could you not be aroused?"

At that, Gray and Claire burst out laughing. Kai slumped in his chair and groaned, "Oh Goddess."

After breakfast and chatter, Kai and Gray said goodbye and left. Trent held Claire smiling. He'd never felt more at home than with this trio. The guys had proved to be the friends Trent had always wanted. And although they wouldn't admit it, they already loved Trent like their older brother. After a kiss, Trent left to the Clinic and Claire walked to the Rose Square.

She had just sat down when Thomas walked up to her. "Hello Claire."

"Good afternoon Mayor Thomas."

"And to you. Will you be joining us for the New Year's Eve Festival?"

"I think so."

"And will you be bringing a special someone?" he smiled.

"Heh, no I don't have anyone to bring." Oddly, the question annoyed Claire.

After a few minutes of small talk Thomas scurried off to take care of some business and Claire walked home. She didn't know why she felt bugged by the question, it was actually quite harmless. Either way, she changed into her pajamas and fell asleep.

Several days passed and it was finally Winter 30th. Trent had told Claire in advance that he wouldn't be attending but to have fun without him. She hated not being able to go with him but she tried to look on the bright side of things. He was like a mysterious stranger who she couldn't meet but in private and what girl doesn't love that?

Mary and Popuri had made plans to hang out with her even though they already had boyfriends. Ann, Mary and Popuri were outside of Claire's door at exactly 3:00 just like they had promised. The girls had told Claire they would compensate for her lack of boyfriend (haha) and give her a makeover so she would be the loveliest girl at the festival. Finally, after two and a half hours of beauty time, Claire was ready as were her friends. Waiting at Rick's house were Kai, Gray, Rick and Karen all ready to go. Claire loved Karen's look at surprise when she looked at Claire. _Who's ugly now?_

"Claire," Popuri whispered.

"What is it Popuri?" the blonde turned.

"I…about Kai…nevermind." She looked at her shoes.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Let's just go to the festival." Popuri forced a weak smile and walked on with the group.

The group stepped into the Rose Square and was immediately greeted by the adults. They complemented on how beautiful everyone looked until finally the couples dispersed and only the adults and Claire stood talking in a cluster.

"Hello Claire, you sure look pretty tonight." Lillia smiled sweetly at her she could finally be there now that she could walk.

"Thank you Lillia, you look wonderful yourself."

"Well ever since the doctor healed me I've felt so-" the sound of glass shattering caught everyone's attention.

It was Lillia who had dropped her glass and she was staring at the beach entrance, everyone turned their heads to see what she was looking at. There stood a man handsome, rugged and tired.

"Rod!" Lillia ran to her husband as he took her into his arms.

"Lillia, you can walk?"

"Yes, Doctor and Claire found the right herb and they cured me! But what about you, you finally came back!"

"I couldn't find anything, but I couldn't be away from you any longer. I love you Lillia and I've had just about enough of my childish behavior. I should have stayed here to comfort you and help you any way I could instead of chasing something I didn't even know existed or not. I hope you can forgive me, my beautiful amazing wife." He spoke to her with such love and passion that Lillia could not restrain herself. She leapt into his arms and kissed him.

"Daddy!" Popuri ran to hug her father followed by her younger brother Rick.

Everyone in the Rose Square cheered and welcomed Rod back into their town. Lillia introduced Claire as the new farmer and the one that cured her. Rod thanked her a million times. As Lillia and Rod sat down to talk and catch up Claire stood alone, dancing in the midst of her friends. Elli and Ellen talked near the desert table and Elli couldn't have had on a bigger smile. Her grandmother was finally on her feet and as refreshed as ever.

"Well hello Claire! You look so lovely!" it was probably the shortest bunch of words Manna had spoken to Claire.

"Oh thank you so much Manna. You look very pretty as well and you're husband very handsome." Claire smiled contently.

"The girls must have helped you with your make up didn't they?" Anna spoke up now interested in whatever Manna had paid attention to.

"Yes, they have lots of fun having me as their doll. I don't wear it very often but it's fun to be dressed up."

"Hello, may I join your conversation?" Sasha poked her head in the small cluster.

"Of course Sasha! Manna was just telling Claire how lovely she looked and I couldn't agree more. Just look at the way her blonde curls tumble over her shoulders." Anna giggled.

"Yes, a very beautiful young woman which begs the question; why are you here alone?" Manna asked.

Claire couldn't have been irked more. "I didn't have anyone to come with," she answered bitterly.

"You are nineteen Claire, and you run a farm. Shouldn't you have at least a boyfriend by now to help you with your chores?"

"With all respect Manna, I can take care of my farm just fine by myself."

"That still doesn't answer the question if you have a boyfriend or not." Sasha pestered.

"Why does it matter? I'm perfectly happy dancing by myself here. Many of my friends are here with me as well Sasha." Claire could feel her blood begin to boil.

"Yes, well, Mary has Gray. Popuri is with Kai and my darling Karen is dancing with Rick."

"And even the strange fellow is sharing a dance with Ann." Anna added.

Claire was so close to yelling at them. What was the big deal? Why were they so interested in her love life?

_They're all hinting that I CAN'T get a boyfriend. I could have easily have had Gray if I wanted to but we're just friends. What makes these annoying gossipers think I have no boyfriend? _She had to stop herself from yelling out that she had a perfectly good and_ older_ boyfriend than the rest. _And _he was the most educated man in the town, the most handsome, the most experienced, kindest, noblest, most respected man and the only one with a printed news article about himself in the whole damn town!

"We can't all have boyfriends like them." Claire mustered up the only kind tone she had left.

"That's true. But Mary was so shy, yet she still has a boyfriend." Anna scoffed.

"Hey look at that!" thank Goddess Manna had changed the subject or Claire would have punched the living day lights out of Anna right then and there. "Isn't that the doctor? Good heavens, what is he doing here?"

"Doctor!" even Thomas wasn't used to calling Trent by his name, "What brings you here? No one has been reported sick. Ha ha ha."

"Oh, I thought it would be a fun experience being the New Year and all." Trent's soothing and silky voice caught Claire's full attention and massaged her to a point where she didn't give a crap about what the women had said.

"That's very odd doctor, you never come to social gatherings like this." Lillia spoke up and Trent saw Rod for the first time and waved to him. Even though Lillia had known Trent by his real name she still felt better just calling him by what everyone else did.

"Well I finally had a reason to." He smiled in Claire's direction without letting anyone else catch his wink.

"And what is that?" Claire's calm, feminine voice startled everyone. They all turned to look at her. All of them were wondering the same thing: why was the farmer speaking as if she knew the doctor? Did she, how?

"Ahem, If I may have everyone's attention." Trent spoke up. Now Claire noticed what he was wearing.

He had on a dark gray suit with a light blue dress shirt underneath; his tie was a deep navy blue. His hair was combed back in a way that seemed so sexy Claire startled herself with the small amount of lust that had just entered her mind.

The entire square turned to look at him. He cleared his throat.

"Now, I may not come to very many festivals such as this because I am a doctor and quite frankly my work consumes me. This also has been the reason why I have not have the delight in getting to know most of you wonderful people. Nevertheless, I appreciate everyone who comes by whether it's for medical treatment or just to say 'hello'. I am glad, however, that I can join you all here for this special New Year's celebration."

"Furthermore," he continued, "I am sure all of you have met Claire, the town's amazing new farmer. Those of you who have gotten to know her know that she is a sweet girl with an amazing personality. I for one, have fallen in love with her."

Everyone in the audience gasped. Claire's expression was of disbelief. They all stared at her waiting for her reaction.

"And that's why," he said striding up to her ever so smoothly, "Claire, here in front of everyone I have confessed my love publicly." he was now whispering to her.

People stared, not knowing what Trent would do next. Even the three of Claire's friends had no idea what he was planning. He took Claire's hand.

"Claire, here in Mineral Town a blue feather means something very special. A blue feather is used when," Trent slowly got down on one knee in front of his beloved and pulled out a concealed feather. The aqua color was beautiful, the feather was stunning and clean. "well, when a man like myself falls head over heals in love with a magnificent woman like you and wants to propose. Claire, will you marry me?"

Her turquoise eyes widened like saucers. Now she knew what the fuss was about with Carter and the blue bird.

"Yes! Of course I'll marry you Trent!" she gasped. He placed the feather in her hand and picked her up in his arms. With her tiny fist clenching the feather tightly she held the back of his head with her hands and kissed him.

The sound of every person cheering finally came into focus and the couple turned to look at everyone. The woman were surprised but happy and immediately turned to each other to gossip, the men cheered and hooted for Trent while the girls squealed and ran to Claire.

"Why did she say yes so quickly? The poor girl probably doesn't want to die alone and said yes in a moment of despair, how shameful." Sasha whispered.

"The only shameful people here are you three." Kai spat. The women turned around to look at him. "The two have been dating for weeks. They didn't want gossipers like you to get into their business. You idiots disgust me, just be happy for such a wonderful love between two young adults like them."

Finally, the gossip trio had been shut up.

"Wow Claire, it's so beautiful!" Ann held up the blue feather.

"So when is the wedding?" Mary giggled shyly.

"This is pretty sudden. It won't be for a while." Claire smiled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

-Knock Knock- "It's Gray, and Kai."

"Come in!"

The door to Trent's room opened slowly.

"Wow. Look at you." A young man in a black tuxedo and combed back blonde hair looked at the bride with amazement.

"Beautiful. Stunning." The second man nodded in agreement.

"Thanks guys, you look handsome without your hat and bandana. So what can I help you with? I believe I still have twenty minutes."

"Before you go up I need to talk to you." Kai sat down next to Claire making sure not to sit on her gown. "I have to tell you something that I've needed to get off my chest for a while now. You are so beautiful. From the first time I met you in my snack shack, no matter how goofy I acted, no matter how much I used my charm on you, I couldn't help but like you. I fell in love with you the moment I saw those shining blue eyes as I opened my own after you fell on me. But that's in the past, you're getting married now and I'm with Popuri. The feelings I had for you were so strong I just know I needed to tell you. I'm going to be here for you Claire, forever. Even if it means being second to Gray, I'll always be your best friend." He kissed her on her forehead before he wiped a tear away from her eye. "Sweetie, don't cry or you'll just ruin your FABULOUS make up!" he yelled in a pseudo-homosexual lisp.

Claire laughed and hugged him tightly and kissed his cheek. "I love you Kai, you'll always be my best friend, and no one is second to anyone."

"Actually, I had a similar problem." Gray sighed rubbing the back of his neck. "But that day I risked a lot to go see if you were in the city I realized you were my best friend too. I was confused at first but I understood as soon as I stepped foot on the city's dock and saw you."

"Same here! People can be so confusing when they try to put us together." Claire smiled.

"You ready?" Gray stood up and held his arm out so Claire could lock hers with his.

"Yep." She stood and walked out of the clinic with her friends to the church.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

"I do." Trent smiled as he looked at Claire lovingly.

"I do." Claire gazed up at him.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." Carter breathed happily.

The two latched mouths as a newly wed couple. Trent picked up Claire and burst open the church door with a kick, he ran to the town square where the reception was being held. Everyone followed, cheering and laughing all the way there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Claire's door was pushed open by her back. Trent pushed it wider and led Claire to her bedroom blindly. They were kissing passionately and Claire could only walk backward as Trent kissed her. Finally Trent threw Claire on her bed. After he locked the door he pulled off his tie and crawled up over her. She pulled his shirt and kissed him quickly. His lips pressed to hers violently. It was a moment of pure passion and lust. His tongue pleaded entry until Claire opened her mouth to let out a moan.

His hands were everywhere. He pulled the dress over her head and took off his shirt. Claire could only shudder in pleasure as he left little kisses all over her jaw, her neck, her shoulders. He was so experienced. Claire also skillfully found his belt buckle. She couldn't help but look at his chest; it was so toned and muscular. The six-pack he had was just enough to send her into a deeper lust she never knew she could reach.

"You sure you haven't done this before?" she managed under panting and moaning.

"No… have….you?" he said between gasps and kisses.

"It's the first time for both of us."

With a chuckle, Trent's muscular arm pulled the last of the clothing off the two and pulled the covers over them. That night they consummated their love.

The chirping woke Claire up in the morning and she woke up to the most beautiful black eyes she'd ever seen. Her lips curled up into a warm smile.

"You know, it may have been **too hard to love you** at first but I think your photo will fit perfectly in the extra **locket slot** in my necklace." She said pulling the necklace out from under the blanket.

"I'm glad Claire, because **no one will ever love you like I do**." He smiled and took her hand. They intertwined their fingers just like the night they had their first kiss. "The **spaces** between my fingers are right were yours fit perfectly."

"It must be magic huh?"

"Yeah, we just need to learn to use… a little magic."

* * *

Again, thank you so much for reading this far. I hope you liked the ending.  
Bonus points for who could catch the lyrics from Owl City's "Vanilla Twilight"!  
(I also had a small "parody" piece in the chapter 16 "Best Friends Forever". Jack's room was modeled after Barney Stinson's room from How I Met Your Mother, the ultimate bachelor pad)

I do NOT own Owl City or How I Met Your Mother.


	21. Epilogue

Spaces: Epilogue

"Good morning sweetie. How's my beautiful wife doing today?" Trent had woken up exceptionally happy today.

"Leave me alone. I wake up early every day, let me sleep in." Claire pulled the covers over her head.

"No. come on Claire bear, it's morning. Rise and shine."

"Go away." Claire whined.

"Okay, I guess I'll just go show everyone these embarrassing photos of you." Trent got off the bed and opened the door when he feel a weight on his back and fell to the ground.

Claire landed on top of him, messy hair and all. "You wouldn't dare." She smiled

"You're right I wouldn't, you're too cute to have bad pictures." He played with a strand of her hair.

She lay down on top of him and kissed him. He didn't need any more of an invitation an kissed her back before he pulled away. I'd been almost two weeks since they were married and almost every day started this way.

"Awww," Claire pouted.

"Aww indeed, now if you two are finished I kinda wanna talk to you Claire."

The blonde's head shot up and saw Kai with his arms crossed looking down at them. She immediately blushed.

"Sorry." She stood up and pulled down her night gown while fixing a strap that Trent had slipped off.

"Who knew you'd be such a sexual little one? Your innocent face lies, doll face."

"Hey," Claire held up her hand, "One, I'm married. Two, look at Trent he's the sexiest man on the face of this earth! And three, just 'cause I'm small doesn't mean I don't have needs." She stuck her tongue out at him.

Kai blushed, "You're adorable you know that?"

"I've been told," she shrugged and smirked.

"Anyway, here's the reason I came. I got a letter in the mail but it's addressed to you. It must have gotten missed up since we're both kinda the newbies stil." Kai handed her a green envelope.

"Hmm, I haven't gotten any special mail in a while." Claire was about to look at the letter but Kai interrupted her.

"Well that was it, I have to go. Popuri said she needed to talk to me about something important. Hope it's not girly stuff." Kai chuckled and excused himself.

"Alas, I am forgotten." Trent spoke, still lying on the floor.

"Trent! I completely forgot I left you down there."

"Hahaha, don't worry about it. Your floor's comfortable." Trent got up and stood behind his wife. "Who's it from?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

"Hey Popuri, you're early!" Kai smiled as he jogged up to the snack shack where his girlfriend was waiting.

"Just open the door please." She looked like she'd been crying. Kai opened the door, worried.

"What's wrong?" he sat down in front of her in one of the tables.

"I know I haven't exactly been the greatest company recently especially at the parties, dances or since you've asked me to be your girlfriend."

"It's okay I understand you're probably going through a lot now that you're dad's back home." Kai placed his hand over hers and smiled lovingly.

She sighed deeply pulling her hand away, "I never said yes."

"What do you mean?" he scoffed nervously.

"When you asked me I never said yes. I'm sorry, I should have made it clear to you but I just didn't know what to say. The thing is, I've been dating someone from the city. I felt confused about rejecting you because I've had feelings for you for so long, but I was already in a relationship so I didn't know what to say.

"What. But…I."

"Sorry Kai, I'm seeing someone else and I can't be you're girlfriend."

"Oh… Okay, I see." His head hung low.

After brief seconds of silence Popuri stood and left the place without a word. Kai stayed sitting in disbelief. His heart ached. _No. I'm not going to mope about this._ His chair scraped the floor suddenly as he stood up, knocked over his chair and stomped to the kitchen. He began chopping furiously at some pineapple he'd saved from Claire's harvest last year.

_This is what I get for trying to settle down. I knew nothing good ever came from being committed. Shit. I was meant to be a womanizer, and if that's my fate so be it. I'll be the best damn playboy this town has seen._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

"It's from Rey!" Claire squealed.

"Oh really?" Trent's stomach churned. Not another boy. "What does it say?"

_Dear Claire,_

_I've heard a lot about you from your brother. He says you've moved to Mineral Town to start a farm. That sounds really exciting. I just finished up some psychology and martial arts classes, they were really fun. I wasn't sure what to do after this so I'm writing to tell you I'll be moving to Mineral Town soon. I'm probably going to stay for a season or two and see if I like living there. I heard you're married. I'm kinda disappointed I didn't get to be there but we haven't heard from each other in a long time so it's understandable. Remember when we were little and used to say we'd marry each other, we were so silly. I hope to see you and your husband soon. I'll be arriving there around Spring 17._

_ Love, Rey_

"Oh my goodness! Rey's coming here! I'm so excited, it's been so long." Claire hugged the letter.

"How splendid. Tomorrow's the 16th you know." Trent pointed out, less than enthusiastic.

"Oh no. The mail must have been late. I'll have to get ready soon. Rey isn't just anybody you know. This is the kind of person you've gotta be ready for. Rey's really special. Mineral Town has no idea what it's in for."


End file.
